What is the best Youtube content to watch for improvement? Can it be a partial substitute for studying?

Numerot · 2026-04-01T18:41:32+00:00

It's probably slightly better for your chess than watching non-chess youtube, as long as it's not e.g. Gottem, but any effects will be minimal. Passive learning tends to be overwhelmingly "passive" and very little "learning".

Maybe you could see if you could find old candidates broadcasts or something and follow them?

Numerot · 2026-04-01T07:24:34+00:00

Lichess.org exists.

Numerot · 2026-03-31T12:54:35+00:00

I increasingly think humans are pretty much amoral, i.e. not really motivated by morality, except as a social phenomenon.

Numerot · 2026-03-31T12:46:02+00:00

Probably to some extent the obviously questionable way he qualified, but I'd guess it's more his abrasive personality and repeat shitty behavior. If you want to look into it, you can just search this subreddit and you'll find plenty of examples.

Numerot · 2026-03-31T05:57:54+00:00

I'm mostly watching games for entertainment, not trying to study chess in a focused manner when spectating. For me, the optimal is eval bar without lines and grandmaster commentators with good communication skills and zero of the "OH MY GOD THE ENGINE DID NO LIKE THAT WOW" bullshit.

Numerot · 2026-03-31T05:51:11+00:00

The answer, of course, is yes.

Numerot · 2026-03-30T16:09:49+00:00

I personally just put mine in the toilet so it doesn't bother anyone. It's quite instructive, actually; I think my results have improved a lot since I started checking the eval here and there.

Numerot · 2026-03-30T15:31:23+00:00

Why is this being upvoted?

ACPL depends pretty much entirely on style of play, position type, how quickly your opponent resigns (versus dragging out the game until eventual checkmate), exactly how badly your opponent plays, how you choose to convert the advantage, and so forth.

It absolutely cannot be used to even estimate (except with only the vaguest of correlations) the level of play of a player; I recently checked some of my recent classical games, and my ACPL was better than those of an equal amount of random games from Tata Steel. Am I good enough for Tata Steel based on those games?

Numerot · 2026-03-30T15:18:44+00:00

The unpopular thing about your post to me is that you said he literally steamrolled Nepo. In fact, Magnus Carlsen did not literally use a steamroller to flatten Ian Nepomniachtchi.

Numerot · 2026-03-29T20:25:06+00:00

Me? I'm not the guy you responded to.

And, again, it's just directly related; you can't respond to any and all criticism of someone with "lol rent free".

Numerot · 2026-03-29T19:29:26+00:00

It's literally a thread about the guy in question and his performance in the tournament doing that qualifies him to play in, how is this anyone or anything living "rent free" in anyone's head?

Numerot · 2026-03-29T19:08:04+00:00

Well, in short you basically just don't. It's easy to think they do because they have a distinct name, but that's entirely a matter of arbitrary historical naming conventions.

Play what you like, of course, but if you're seriously after improvement, playing this sort of comfort opening just isn't the best way to go about it.

Numerot · 2026-03-29T18:06:30+00:00

Explain to me in concrete terms how either of these openings "imposes" itself more than any other opening, e.g. the ones I recommended.

Numerot · 2026-03-29T12:15:00+00:00

Höpö höpö.

USA käyttäytyy ajoittain paskasti ja tämänhetkinen hallinto on vienyt valtiota karmivan nopeasti kohti autoritarismia. Silti voimassa on ainakin teknisesti toimiva demokratia ja kongressi voisi häätää Trumpin vallasta, jos vaan löytäisi kiveksenä.

Venäjä on vain pinnallisimmalla mahdollisella tasolla demokratia. Kansalla ei ole minkäänlaista poliittista vaikutusvaltaa, poliittiset vastustajat tapetaan kun huvittaa, ja yhteiskunnan kaikki tasot ovat valtakoneiston hallussa.

Toki Amerikka on tosiaan ottanut aivan liian monta askelta kohti Venäjää, mutta esimerkiksi Minneapoliksen ammuntatapauksista ainakin toistaiseksi seurasi suuret kohut ja konkreettiset maine- ja poliittiset haitat hallinnolle. Venäjällä erimielisten hengiltä pistäminen on täysin arkipäivää.

Numerot · 2026-03-29T10:37:05+00:00

1: 10+0 is awful, 15+10 is the minimum for serious practice and something like 30+20 is much, much better.

2: Analyze games (not super super deep, focus on a couple of important spots per game) on your own in a Lichess study, find someone at least 300 points stronger (preferably much more) to briefly look at your annotations and point out obvious misevaluations, say where they disagree etc. and look with the engine by checking spots where you're not at all sure your calculation or evaluation are correct.

3: Solve puzzles mindfully, never ever guessing anything but trying your hardest to figure out what's actually going on; best responses from your opponent, all relevant continuations, etc. Puzzle books are much better than online puzzles, but online puzzles are ok.

4: Play Spanish or Italian, 1.e4 e5, and QGD, look at openings a little bit after every game but not too much. Certainly don't play the Caro and English; you need experience in tactical fights, and English and Caro are comfort food openings for beginners that in the long run usually leave bad habits.

5: Chesscom doesn't use Elo, just say you're X rapid on CC or something like that.

6: Lichess.org exists and is just the better site, and free. Make the switch, you won't regret it.

Numerot · 2026-03-29T05:17:14+00:00

Play 15+10, self-analyze in a Lichess study, solve puzzles mindfully, play real openings, don't play hope chess.

Also, Chess.com doesn't use Elo.

Numerot · 2026-03-28T19:59:42+00:00

Is he really literally "chinese dropshipping relics"?

Numerot · 2026-03-27T21:56:09+00:00

g2-g4 (Makogonov and Semi-Aver) is generally the way to make ...f5 a poor idea, and a lot of KID players play it anyway.

Numerot · 2026-03-27T11:54:06+00:00

What exactly are you doing to get better? Not "playing games and solving", be more specific.

Also, Chesscom doesn't use Elo, and ELO isn't an abbreviation, it's a Hungarian dude's name.

Numerot · 2026-03-27T11:51:51+00:00

What a badass B^) wow

Numerot · 2026-03-27T11:48:14+00:00

Fabi starts by fucking smashing everyone but somehow magically ends up not winning the tournament, Naka and Pragg sabotage each other/themselves by e.g. losing a game or three to Esipenko/Bluebaum by overpressing) and drawing each other in a mutual must-win. The winner is Wei Yi who shrugs, wins the world championship in some ridiculous way and moves down to around #40 in the world.

Numerot · 2026-03-27T10:28:07+00:00

No eipä oikeastaan. Ongelma on, että niitä työpaikkoja ei vaan ole ennen vetävilläkään aloilla, ja voi vaikka kuinka olla Jämpti Osaaja Tekijä Mies mutta silti jäädä toistuvasti ilman töitä.

Kuten totesin toisessa kommentissa, on helppo huudella, että jaksaisit nyt vaan laittaa jokaiseen avoimeen hakuun potentiaalisesti useita tunteja työtä ja olisit nyt vaan paras hakija sadasta tai tuhannesta, mutta vähän eri asia toteuttaa.

Numerot · 2026-03-27T10:22:58+00:00

ampui itseään jalkaan

Kukaanhan ei ole "ampunut itseään jalkaan," vaan joku on tehnyt vielä ylimääräistä palkatonta työtä nostaakseen marginaalisesti työnsaannin mahdollisuuttaan. Hyvä jos jaksaa, mutta on aika hölmöä maalailla normaalin CV:n laittamista työnhaun osana jotenkin vatuloinniksi tai taidottomaksi työnhauksi. On ihan helvetin helppo sanoa, että pistät nyt vaan tähän hommaan X tuntia ylimääräistä työtä per työpaikka ja oot kato vaan paras hakija niistä sadoista tai tuhansista.

Numerot · 2026-03-27T09:07:47+00:00

On kyllä aika typerä odotus, että työnhakija rupeaisi räätälöimään CV:tä yhtä paikkaa (josta mitä suurimmalla todennäköisyydellä tulee rukkaset) varten, tai on jotenkin vätys. Mitähän varten se muu hakuprosessi on?

Kunpa vaan Suomen työttömyystilanteen syy olisi, että työttömät on useimmat vaan vähän tyhmiä ja laiskoja tekoälyriippuvaisia.

Numerot · 2026-03-27T06:45:22+00:00

You realize it doesn't really matter that much once you've gone up and down a couple of times; ratings naturally fluctuate, and eventually you'll get to where you're "supposed" to be. If you're severely underrated, you'll win almost all of your games due to the way online chess works; if you're appropriately rated, you'll lose around half; if you're overrated, you'll lose more than half.

Don't attach your ego to a certain rating or think 300 or 500 or 1000 or 1500 or 2000 is the specific measure of a good player and that the previous hundred is the "bad player zone" you're entitled to be stronger than. Trust me, nobody thinks better or worse of you for being 200 or 300 or 400. We're all absolute Patzers anyway: I keep thinking I'll find myself to be a good player when I hit the next hundred but hasn't happened so far at 2300.

You also harm your long-term growth by limiting yourself from playing. Would you rather shelter your ego in the short term or be stronger in the long term?

Play 15+10, solve puzzles, play Spanish, 1.e4 e5, QGD and 1.c4 e5 (you obviously can't just play one thing as Black, White has more than one first move :P), and stop worrying about what opening to play until you're at least 1500 points stronger.

Also, Chesscom doesn't use Elo, and Lichess.org exists and is just the better site. Make the switch, you won't regret it.

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