I know the many legends here but I am very proud to reach my little 802 ELO on rapid. I’m saving up for the Chessable course now but these videos have helped me in such a large way! Cheers! Also I think a Discord would be so sick for this channel!!
Congratulations Not everybody learns chess as a child and then you Grow Up need to Work and have a girlfriend WE got No Time and our old brains learn slower than When you learn Things with four years of age So BE proud Congratulations bro
Alex I have binge-watched like 100 hours of your Caro and Jobava London videos over the last month and learned so much. You’re a fantastic teacher, please never stop making these!
I'm so happy you're back to an ELO I can understand and follow along properly. You're my favourite TH-camr and the only one I have notifications turned on for!
Alex, I watch your videos all the time; when I started watching a year ago, I was around 800 elo. Going into 2025 I'm 1126 in 10 minute rapid, playing almost exclusively the Jobava and Caro Kann. Thank you SO much for making this excellent content available for folks, it's SUPER informative and you have a great sense of humor!
Keep up the good work Alex! The way you explain your thought process in simple terms really helps a noob like me. All your strategies work well at my 1300 elo level. Can't wait to see your Jobava course
I was playing some jobava's london games and losing all of them, I opened youtube discouraged and found this, you just made my day Alex. You're the best 👏
I have been waiting for your Jobava London Chessable course for like a year now. Please bring it as soon as you can while keeping it as good as the existing london course.
@@AlexBanzeaYour courses have been phenomenal, addressing common beginner mistakes, how to punish them, and the concept of good and bad pieces-insights often overlooked by GMs who assume they’re self-evident. This attention to detail adds immense value for players like us (below 2000 FIDE). I’m confident your upcoming course will be just as impactful and effective as your London course, remaining useful even at higher levels while being accessible to beginner-to-intermediate players.
I love that you don't take free pieces and instead go for more thematic positions. Even I know how to take a free piece; it is the positional play that is so instructive. Thank you so much!
Happy new year Alex. Your vids help my rapid elo from 1k3 to high 1k6 in just a few weeks. Btw I prefer the vids you played against high elo guys than beginners. Because high elo guys strike back hard even when they’re in disadvantage, and I really struggle with their counter play. Sometimes I’m up in material but still difficult to forced exchange pieces or defend against their counter play.
Hey Alex, I just wanted to thank you for amazing videos. I started chess on March 2024. I put a goal to reach 1500 elo before 2025. I got to 1200 elo by June. But I stuck there for 6 months. Then I saw your "What 2000 hours taught me about the Caro-Kann" on my home page. I play Caro-Kann but I wanted to learn what a professional Caro-Kann player has to say. Watching that video was the best decision I made this year :) You explain your moves in such a way that it feels so logical and easy to play. That video was the first of many that I watch from you. After some videos, I decided to play and got a win streak to break 1300 elo. I already reached 1340 last night and my 1500 elo goal looks closer than ever thanks to you. Thank you again :) By the way, one quick question: How do you mark the tiles with different colors? For example at 6:45 you paint d4 tile to blue. I can only paint them red by right clicking.
I've been watching all your Jobava videos, and unless I blunder a piece or am playing a much stronger opponent, I essentially always win. This is a great opening. Big improvement over the regular London. For black I play the King's Indian/Pirc.
hey alex! watching you has increased my elo by 200 points and I have a pretty cool 77% win rate with black thanks to the caro kann and you. You're funny and I love the creative analogies .
1st opponent essentially my playstyle, i can appear to make "very good moves for the rating range" in openings and start of the middle game if the moves are natural and principled.. but i will soon blunder a piece, forget the oppnent king can capture after a "trade", or attack aggressively and run out of gas.. but these vids have def improved my game more than anything
Really love your speedruns Alex, although I feel like this ELO is too low because your opponents will hang pieces every game. Maybe 1300 is a better place to start? On a side note, I'd love to see a compilation of your games against cheaters :D
At 9:18 why not take the knight with the bishop and then take the pawn to avoid getting your kingside pawns doubled? Maybe you were wanting to show how to play if opponent took a line that doubled your pawns? Thanks for the always amazing videos. I'm really looking forward to your Jobava course. Your Caro course is fantastic.
Man, I've been struggling with the quick c5 push by my opponents, it feels like a totally different setup at that point. It's annoying. I'm not 100% if I just take the pawn or develope the pony. Typically, I just develope the pony and let them take. Also, congrats on hitting 100k subscribers, I just noticed.
I used to think Jobava London as the lame cousin of the OG London system but because of my favorite Bromanian chessman I have now better appreciation for ideas in the position and I have warmed up to it.
26:00 What about Nb4? Pretty annoying for the queen. I think I would've moved a3 before castling to prevent that. What am I missing? Edit: I should've kept watching.. but still.. normally I get that you can just go Qd2, but with the threat on their rook it seems like it's worth it in this situation to go a3 first.
The setup in game one is what like 90% of black players are playing against JL these days around 1000-1200 it seems. Or they setup with bishop inside pawn chain and try pushing queen side pawns deep ive noticed.
Hi @AlexBanzea, I have been enjoying and learning a lot from your Caro Kann course on chessable. If I am interested in learning more from the white pieces, would you recommend I study your "vanilla" London course, or just play around with the Jobava based on ideas from your youtube videos until that course is complete? Is there an estimate of when we might expect the Jobava course? Also, what do you usually play as black against 1. d4 for these speedruns? All the best.
Jobava is my favourite for 1000-2000 online. For OTB the normal london can be a better pick if you can handle positional play. I will do speedrun with Bf5 Slav (Black London) to tackle everything with one stone, but for OTB openings like QGD/QGA can be more reliable. Still not super sure what to recommend you because I played King's Indian my whole life, but that's not everyone's cup of tea.
In both lines after Nb5 e5 (taking with bishop or pawn), it's just +.8 unless black makes further mistakes, which is like playing against Alekhine or Benoni. It's hardly a free win. Of course they mess up most of the time, but that's a different thing.
Alex do you have any suggestions for keeping up with the knights in the late middle game/end game? To me every other piece is simple to keep track of but it takes too long for me to calculate where all the night attacks could be and I run out of time.
My bro you’re amazing I really want to push past 1500 with jobava can u suggest me some of your videos that can help me push through 1500 elo - cheers from Bulgaria
impatiently waiting for you to attack some GM's secret account at higher levels and defeat him and force him to introduce Jobav to his opening repertoire 😎😜🔥💪
I don't understand why you chose e3 instead of going for the Nb5. Seemed like your older videos pushed for that fork but these newer ones you never do for it.
I prefer e3 for low elo because if black is tricky, they can force you to play without Nb5 like: 1.d4 d5 2.Nc3 e6 3.Bb4 Bb4 where you must know how to play the e3 positions
Caro-Kann sale (last day): www.chessable.com/the-caro-kann-simplified/course/171080/
"Putrified brain rot"(funny). I'd say "petrified brain lock".(not as funny)
I know the many legends here but I am very proud to reach my little 802 ELO on rapid. I’m saving up for the Chessable course now but these videos have helped me in such a large way! Cheers! Also I think a Discord would be so sick for this channel!!
Great job man I'm a 1350 and I'm rooting for you to improve and reach around me or better
@Utg_gamer_henrythank you my friend! So awesome on your ranking. You keep climbing as well!! 💪🏽💪🏽
Congratulations
Not everybody learns chess as a child and then you Grow Up need to Work and have a girlfriend
WE got No Time and our old brains learn slower than When you learn Things with four years of age
So BE proud
Congratulations bro
Congratulations keep rocking it! Alex’s Chessable courses are well worth it his Caro Kann course did wonders for me
Yeah I went from 670 to 900 in rapid using mostly Jobava and Caro Kann
Alex I have binge-watched like 100 hours of your Caro and Jobava London videos over the last month and learned so much. You’re a fantastic teacher, please never stop making these!
I'm so happy you're back to an ELO I can understand and follow along properly. You're my favourite TH-camr and the only one I have notifications turned on for!
Alex, I watch your videos all the time; when I started watching a year ago, I was around 800 elo. Going into 2025 I'm 1126 in 10 minute rapid, playing almost exclusively the Jobava and Caro Kann. Thank you SO much for making this excellent content available for folks, it's SUPER informative and you have a great sense of humor!
Keep up the good work Alex! The way you explain your thought process in simple terms really helps a noob like me. All your strategies work well at my 1300 elo level. Can't wait to see your Jobava course
That bishop pair endgame was really instructive. Thank you for the video :)
I was playing some jobava's london games and losing all of them, I opened youtube discouraged and found this, you just made my day Alex. You're the best 👏
I really appreciate it that you don’t take the easy wins but rather play the more instructive game for us. Thanks for that!
I have been waiting for your Jobava London Chessable course for like a year now. Please bring it as soon as you can while keeping it as good as the existing london course.
Aiming to be the best course in history...which is why it keeps being delayed. Sorry not sorry :P
@@AlexBanzeaYour courses have been phenomenal, addressing common beginner mistakes, how to punish them, and the concept of good and bad pieces-insights often overlooked by GMs who assume they’re self-evident. This attention to detail adds immense value for players like us (below 2000 FIDE). I’m confident your upcoming course will be just as impactful and effective as your London course, remaining useful even at higher levels while being accessible to beginner-to-intermediate players.
Basically, all my opening studies are based on your videos. Pure gold!! Many thanks
After just 40 seconds this video deserves a like already!
Thanks Alex
Very instructive video. Keep up the great work Alex!
Happy new year, Alex. Thx for all Your effort!
I love that you don't take free pieces and instead go for more thematic positions. Even I know how to take a free piece; it is the positional play that is so instructive. Thank you so much!
OMG!! We got a new Jobava London run!! Best start of the year
Alex I love your jobaba London Videos. Don’t stop cooking these❤
Thanks Alex, great video again !
Really starting to gain some ELO with your caro and jobava videos. Thanks a lot for the instruction!
Happy new year Alex. Your vids help my rapid elo from 1k3 to high 1k6 in just a few weeks.
Btw I prefer the vids you played against high elo guys than beginners. Because high elo guys strike back hard even when they’re in disadvantage, and I really struggle with their counter play. Sometimes I’m up in material but still difficult to forced exchange pieces or defend against their counter play.
Hey Alex, I just wanted to thank you for amazing videos.
I started chess on March 2024. I put a goal to reach 1500 elo before 2025. I got to 1200 elo by June. But I stuck there for 6 months. Then I saw your "What 2000 hours taught me about the Caro-Kann" on my home page. I play Caro-Kann but I wanted to learn what a professional Caro-Kann player has to say. Watching that video was the best decision I made this year :) You explain your moves in such a way that it feels so logical and easy to play. That video was the first of many that I watch from you. After some videos, I decided to play and got a win streak to break 1300 elo. I already reached 1340 last night and my 1500 elo goal looks closer than ever thanks to you. Thank you again :)
By the way, one quick question: How do you mark the tiles with different colors? For example at 6:45 you paint d4 tile to blue. I can only paint them red by right clicking.
you have to press alt or ctrl randomly until it gives what you want!
Im so hype for the new speedrun!! You thought me so much!
Happy capybara is a happybara, you’re my favorite chess streamer along with danya
I've been watching all your Jobava videos, and unless I blunder a piece or am playing a much stronger opponent, I essentially always win. This is a great opening. Big improvement over the regular London. For black I play the King's Indian/Pirc.
Got my hopes up for the Jobava course there for a sec :D
Excited for the new series though!
hey alex! watching you has increased my elo by 200 points and I have a pretty cool 77% win rate with black thanks to the caro kann and you. You're funny and I love the creative analogies .
I am more excited for the Jobava course than GTA 6 at this point.
Come on guys. Let’s push this guy to a million subs. Just cracked 1400 for the first time thanks to you. 💪🏽
7:00 "2+2 is 4, -1 that's 3 quick maths" we understood you Alex
omg ! an actual Jobava-Banzea game where he dosent pawn storm the white-squre black bishop! iv waited years for this!
19:24 The capybara returns
1st opponent essentially my playstyle, i can appear to make "very good moves for the rating range" in openings and start of the middle game if the moves are natural and principled.. but i will soon blunder a piece, forget the oppnent king can capture after a "trade", or attack aggressively and run out of gas.. but these vids have def improved my game more than anything
Happy capibara
My new best TH-cam series
Another Alex Banzea banger, feels so easy when you play then I immediately blunder a piece 😂
Great games as usual ❤
Game 1: 2 Bishops; Game 3: N v B. Some will be confused. Maybe explain the difference between the two pawn structures in your next vid?
Really love your speedruns Alex, although I feel like this ELO is too low because your opponents will hang pieces every game.
Maybe 1300 is a better place to start?
On a side note, I'd love to see a compilation of your games against cheaters :D
At 9:18 why not take the knight with the bishop and then take the pawn to avoid getting your kingside pawns doubled? Maybe you were wanting to show how to play if opponent took a line that doubled your pawns?
Thanks for the always amazing videos. I'm really looking forward to your Jobava course. Your Caro course is fantastic.
Very istructive tecnique....bishop pair endings
Centralizzazione of the king and dominations of the knigths by bishop
Thank you IM😊😊😊
41:55 you are correct, but somehow you made Jobava still interesting for those who are not planning to play it.
Man, I've been struggling with the quick c5 push by my opponents, it feels like a totally different setup at that point. It's annoying. I'm not 100% if I just take the pawn or develope the pony. Typically, I just develope the pony and let them take. Also, congrats on hitting 100k subscribers, I just noticed.
omg...found this before it was released :O
Lol
where
i was literally searching for the Jobava playlist on the channel and I found the newest one created containing a single video :)
wait… how? 😂😂
@@harrycrab1677 it was a glitch from TH-cam (the video was scheduled for today)
Just reached 1000 using the Jobava and the CK for the vast majority. Sometimes I start the regular London then transcribe and then they go 4 knights
Pure goodness.
44:50 "don't play knight e5" ... and I took that personally
haha, most common mistake
Show more of the Excalibur knight please. Not always easy to convert
30:38. 'A false sense of invincibility.'
i’m tired from waiting when we will see the jobava course
43:05 is this move to E4 because of of the knight on C3 instead of the “Pawn Storm”?
it's a good counter if they mirror your first 3 moves, but the PS can also work
Give us the course already 🥴
BABE WAKE UP ALEX BANZEA POSTED A NEW JOBAVA LONDON VIDEO
Jabravo!
Alex, Happy New Year. Please make full instructive videos on boa snake structure. Thank you in advance.
Right when I was about to eat my GOAT drops a video!!!
the deep irony of the opening comment
I used to think Jobava London as the lame cousin of the OG London system but because of my favorite Bromanian chessman I have now better appreciation for ideas in the position and I have warmed up to it.
26:00 What about Nb4? Pretty annoying for the queen. I think I would've moved a3 before castling to prevent that. What am I missing?
Edit: I should've kept watching.. but still.. normally I get that you can just go Qd2, but with the threat on their rook it seems like it's worth it in this situation to go a3 first.
always save on a3 if you don't need it :D
When is the Jobava course coming out Alex?????? We are waiting 😝
great content. Thank you. I lose when black does not castle or castles long. Can you do some videos on what to do when they don't castle? Thanks.
The setup in game one is what like 90% of black players are playing against JL these days around 1000-1200 it seems. Or they setup with bishop inside pawn chain and try pushing queen side pawns deep ive noticed.
Put the fries in the bag and put the Jobava in the London
Hi Alex - two bishops in the endgame = happy Capybara!
The first game reminds me so much of my cat slow torturing a mouse.
Love it!!
Jobava! Jobava! Jobava!
Opposite for me. I never watch the caro vids but always watch the jobava videos because they’re better
Hi @AlexBanzea,
I have been enjoying and learning a lot from your Caro Kann course on chessable.
If I am interested in learning more from the white pieces, would you recommend I study your "vanilla" London course, or just play around with the Jobava based on ideas from your youtube videos until that course is complete? Is there an estimate of when we might expect the Jobava course?
Also, what do you usually play as black against 1. d4 for these speedruns?
All the best.
Jobava is my favourite for 1000-2000 online. For OTB the normal london can be a better pick if you can handle positional play. I will do speedrun with Bf5 Slav (Black London) to tackle everything with one stone, but for OTB openings like QGD/QGA can be more reliable. Still not super sure what to recommend you because I played King's Indian my whole life, but that's not everyone's cup of tea.
In both lines after Nb5 e5 (taking with bishop or pawn), it's just +.8 unless black makes further mistakes, which is like playing against Alekhine or Benoni. It's hardly a free win. Of course they mess up most of the time, but that's a different thing.
they usually crack faster after dxe5-Ne4-Qxd5 is a common motif (I'll let you check the eval :P)
Hi Alex after the 2 nights blunder, the game is still interesting if they play E5 and then A6... surprisingly almost equal...hope you can play that
nobody plays like that, most of them meet dxe5 with either Ne4 (allowing Qxd5) or go Nh5-e3-Nxf4-exf4 with a clean extra pawn for white
@AlexBanzea Even though if sb is good enough to know this line he is probably going to play sth else
Alex do you have any suggestions for keeping up with the knights in the late middle game/end game? To me every other piece is simple to keep track of but it takes too long for me to calculate where all the night attacks could be and I run out of time.
When is the Jobava course available?
In my 30s learning chess, only at 900 right now, but I hope to be around 1500 by next year
47:00 why not take the knight with Queen?
we can use the h-file for the attack later on + the g3-pawn as an attacking 'piece'
My uncle alex and my uncle jobava from egypt.....plz explain carokan vs english openning ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
My bro you’re amazing I really want to push past 1500 with jobava can u suggest me some of your videos that can help me push through 1500 elo - cheers from Bulgaria
I put great effort in all of them!
alex how many times a day do you listen to made in romania?
I reached 1800 rating thanks a lot fr helping me
I see Jobava London. I click
Maybe the first opponent resigned after realizing he was loosing to an elephant playing chess
Your capybara is always your favorite. 8( Are you not familiar with the Australian Quokka? Much better!
Something’s off in the universe. We got a Wednesday upload guys
Haha, nice to see you back in the comments!
Always watching but not always in time to comment cuz of work ha
Piece of cake!
Thanks!
thank youuuu!
Great game
Yoo Jo bama I am here to take your heart, give to me
In positions like game 2 after knight c6, knight b5 i get lots of opponents pushing e5, is that just winning the pawn for me on e5?
yes it's just winning, but my goal is to not rely on this cheap trick with Nb5, but to focus on middlegame strategy.
The boa snake = the boa constrictor fyi
19:23 capybara time
1 view 1 hour 1 like 1 comment
My TH-cam is tripping
Play above 1600 please
In game 3 bro hang 3 pieces in 1 move.
impatiently waiting for you to attack some GM's secret account at higher levels and defeat him and force him to introduce Jobav to his opening repertoire 😎😜🔥💪
I don't understand why you chose e3 instead of going for the Nb5. Seemed like your older videos pushed for that fork but these newer ones you never do for it.
I prefer e3 for low elo because if black is tricky, they can force you to play without Nb5 like: 1.d4 d5 2.Nc3 e6 3.Bb4 Bb4 where you must know how to play the e3 positions
I challenge you to a duel!
Please 4.e3 or 4.Cb5 ?
Probably e3
Thanks you on some vidéos you play Cb5 ... @@AlexBanzea
Subbed bc I understand low elo shit haha. Can’t keep up with 2600 games
Can you please live stream titled Tuesday
OK my Netflix series will wait for tommorow - a new Man of Culture video is much more interesting!
Happy capybara