Let me know if you like me playing in the 10-minute pool. Also, only for today, 25% off all courses: www.chessly.com/courses

I far prefer this format of playing against anyone in the pool. Playing against 1000-1800 was getting repetitive, and this is my favorite series you do as it allows us to see your thought process and reaction in real time rather than in post-commentary

1) you don't need to make it entertaining, its entertaining as it is and 2) it's really ok if it's longer than an hour

My entire chess learning process consists of watching "Guess the Elo" and "How to Win at Chess" and I could not be happier with my progress

17:15 it’s reassuring to see that even at Gotham’s level, the top 0.1%, you’re still not beyond making 1 move queen blunders in rapid.

Gotham if you want to try something different, for a new concept of "How to Win at Chess," you should hide the ELO of your opponent from yourself, and then at the end of the game guess what you think their ELO is based off of how they played, tactics they used, etc. then you can explain your thought process of why you guess xyz ELO, and maybe some tips on how they can best improve. It would be a combination "How to Win at Chess" and "Guess the ELO."

This is actually great. I like watching Levy get worried. He respects his opponents moves so much more and you can see how giddy he is to comment on his opponent’s strategy the whole time.

"The knight can't really moooo~ moo?" 48:14 -GothamChess 2024

Wouldn't it be good to give the "Win at chess" episodes a theme like win with d4, win with traps, win with leningrad, win against caro-kann etc. Because I feel like that would make the episodes more rewatchable. One would return to those episodes whenever one would search for something specific. I can't even count how many times I watched episodes about specific openings or traps because I realized that I forgot some things about them and needed a reminder.

For future reference, the title is "ONLY FOR TODAY!!!!!!!"

Zero likes in 9 seconds Gotham fell off 😔

The first opponent with name at the end UNAM stands for Universidad nacional autonoma de mexico, one of the best univerisities in mexico and all Latam, they are the champions at college level chess at Mexico, curious data point,

This is my favorite episode! I went from 1200 to 2200 due to you, and I missed the old days when to win at chess I just had to watch a "how to win at chess" video from Gotham! Now I can start winning again 🎉

I definitely enjoyed the higher level chess in this series. I would love to see more of this

I was once paired up against your second opponent and won in an opposite colored bishop endgame. Crazy how there is a link between me and a master now.

I've seen Levy talk about analyzing each game after you play it to get better, and I really love that he shows us the exact process of playing the game and then reviewing it. I really appreciate these videos, keep it up.

"it could be a cheater" that'd be the fun part tbh 😭

I watch almost daily & absolutely LOVED this episode! I also liked some other commenters idea of having ‘win at chess’ w/ x opening / ‘win around chess’ guess the elo version as well. Ps. Thanks for the free Levi bot availability, was generous to share for free & super helpful & fun! Was a brilliant idea to add to supplement the courses.

Watched you for years now ( during lunch everyday ). You’ve rekindled my love for the game and I’ve now entered my first OTB chess tournament at 42 alongside with my kids! Thank you 🙏. This episode was great! I loved watching you play rapid against 2300s.

Rapid format is excellent for 2000+ elo. 5 min blitz for sub 2000 to allow for more games with heavy emphasis on middlegame planning/precise endgame play. Love the series. Thanks dude

0:27 what a brilliant way to advertise for the clash of claims event lmao

Who names their child gothamchess😂😂

Love the long format and rapid format, mate. Thanks 🤘🏻

loved it!! you can do more of these, but don't neglect doing the ladder ones. This series is the very best thing you do.

Gotham, it’s me Mac. The one with the Rubik’s Cube at the chess kid festival. I love your content, and keep up the good work

I love this. I have been wanting to see a master level player talking through their thoughts against opponents of similar skill. 10/10 will watch again :)

Happy Easter, Levy! Please keep this format up, especially with the higher level opponents. That stuff´s very educational, gives great insight into spotting more obtuse tactics and anticipating attacking ideas for your opponents

You should play with their rating covered so you don’t know what to expect then guess their rating

Thanks for all you do for the community Levy!

Deffinetly one of the best series on youtube for chess it was awsome to see the difference from the normal episodes, ie rating and skill wise, deffinetly one of my favorite episodes, and i wouldnt mind a few more like this!

Loved this!! Both concepts of playing lower rated (around my level) and top tier games and getting a picture of key concepts at a high level

Levy never fails to not watch his own videos

Levy, please make some videos about chess history

This is my favorite series. I like to sit and watch one of these over the course of several days. I like both you playing subscribers and playing randos. This series helps my chess more than other, even if to you it feels repetitive, I feel like with chess I need the repetition for it to stick.

I’m so glad this is now a weekly series! Can’t get enough 👏🏼

Levy never fails to win at chess

Its not going to be *only today* ..

I love it! This is my favorite series on your channel because you do such a good job explaining your thought process. It has really helped me with my own process of coming up with ideas and calculating them

this video is excellent, your best one for a while - also could genuinely see your excitement for the game

26:50 Levy never fails to take

I legit started shouting at 17:27 , when he said he is gonna move his queen to f7💀

Its never dull, I love these series! Love your step by step approach. Keep it coming!

Love the concept, playing strong players and giving it your best. Please keep it up!

Levy never fails to upload

Hi

That first game playing defense was amazing. I face players that love to do these sort of sacrifices all the time. Sometimes it works. Good job.

More of this Levi pls this is so instructive

Levy plays against random players to show he hates his subscribers. What a shame!

If only you spent as much effort at studying chess like you do at clickbaiting you'd be GM

I love this format. I wish I could see all the combinations that you see live during your games. So far, I can only think 2 moves in advance

Gotham gotta do a speedrun series from 0-2000

I appreciated this high level game breakdown, I would appreciate it if you could do more videos like this one Levy. 🙏

"Congrats to everyone Who is early and who found this comment.. 🐼🐧...,,,

First

I don't comment often, but just wanted to say (in case you read this) thanks for the open beta on your chess bot and specifically access to some primo content. The e4 course in amazing, I went through all of the Vienna (as I play it), and some of the French and Sicilian to see new concepts and love how you present the ideas and how the little drills help nail down the accuracy to your lines. Still haven't seen a lot of it despite going hard with the chess study, and having access to the drills/bot anytime with the course would be great next time a good special is on :) Cool to see you play the French Def. Gambit in this video too after studying it!

I really like gotham actually getting challenged in rapid. Its still very insightful, but also pretty exciting

I'd say a mix would be better, like 2 vs low rated Subs and 2 vs random search pool, as the majority of people are much lower rated, seeing how you deal with lower rated opponents is easier to take in, for me at least.

I enjoy this type of content a lot. Thank you - very instructive.

Fantastic episode, you're so good at explaining your thoughts and to see that at your level is great.

Certainly a great video! I enjoyed your live reactions and thought processes. It gave me some insights and allowed me to think on the spot with you. Overall wonderful video!

I am so happy you were playing a Scandinavian and taking the time to thinking in the 10 minute pool! I am a beginner and having been playing this opening because it just stuck with me. It feels so much more relatable to see you working things out, I can't follow fast games, I don't have time to keep up and pausing constantly is not that fun. I haven't finished the video just paused at 7:51 because I was just like this is so nice, I get to see the considerations and also a master feels so much more human when they consider things instead of blitz out moves at incomprehensible speeds. its like "oh they actually can find these positions tricky" I know you think in OTB but OTB is feels much more official than online, the stake feels heavier. Anyway going back to watching!

Absolutely awesome. Yes, very instructive to see these higher level games. Or maybe a speedrun, where the level goes up gradually.

This was a great episode. More of this structure please!

it was really interesting to see you play people at your level, I think it'd be great if you were to do a mix of both videos like this and videos where you play against people at different levels, since with videos like this one, you show us more complex games and positions that you might not see at lower levels, but by also keeping lower level games you can also showcase situations that you'd maybe only see at certain elo rangers, as an example if you were playing someone at 800 elo where there are situations that you'd only find at that level range due to people still (usually) being beginners

Keep doing this. Very instructive. Especially the defense in game one.

That was great. There was some real complex positions to learn from. Thanks!

17:15 for if you ever feel bad about hanging a piece

I really enjoyed this format. One of the benefits is that you don't have to try and "think like a 1000", but you just play the ideas you have , which you explain well. To improve, it helps to understand what higher level thinking is, and then to try and emulate it. Also, and maybe in this format something that could have a bit more time dedicated to it, is the post-game analysis phase, showing how to get the most out of it. And well done, particularly that first game. I thought you kept your cool in a very difficult looking position and to see how you found ways to fight back was very eye-opening.

Finally finished this episode. I mostly watch one game a day. Really like the concept.

This is my fav video from you Levi in a while! Glad how to win at chess is back and very excited to watch higher level opponents as I am 1800 and don’t get much out of most of how to win at chess

Yes! Love the jeopardy, and the humility with which you happily show your errors. Regardless, none of your videos are boring. Perhaps they are to you, but I, for one, will never get tired of your wisdom and NY banter.

I really enjoy watching you play strong rapid games. We see you play blitz pretty much exclusively, but I feel rapids have more depth while keeping a good pace. So yes, I really like this concept of you playing random stronger player.

more of this format please, really like it!

Please do more videos like this. I really enjoyed watching it. 👍👍

That game against Munger_Avenue was amazing! I think this series is great and agree with others that it’s interesting to see your thoughts in a longer time format against players your range. Interesting to see what it’s like for you to try and figure out what your opponent at your level is up to rather than just easily beating us lower level elos!

Levy, these are awesome. You have helped me fall in love with Chess.

I like the old format. But let me tell you, these videos are so informative. I've learned a ton from them. And my boi is back at getting his GM title (which I think he will accomplish this time).

Thanks Levy, I really enjoyed watching you play against very strong competition.

2:52 "There's a lot of people cheating. I'm not talking about my opponent, I'm talking for me personally." - Guys, call Kramnik, we've caught another one.

For me this is your best series and this was the best one of the series ... It's great to see you playing your hardest to win while being instructional. Would love to see more of these and maybe a chess960/Fischer Random how to win at chess

This is very helpful. You're explaining moves very well and tactics on this level are not too crazy, so I can see some or at least understand them (I'm 1500). These games also give much more emotion as you actually can lose. We need more of this format for sure!

I dig the format - fun to have the randomness and the skills needed to adapt to whatever situation

i like watching you play against opponents that are at your level , i appreciate listening to your thinking process. thanks 👍

Levy almost hanging his queen is the most relatable part of the episode

i just wanted say thank you for letting us use chessly courses and levi bot for 2 days for free. i took three hours to study caro kann course and thanks to prep i already showed a few 2000s what the pain is. everything seemed pretty simple for my level of understanding and i just know what to do. for now i don't see any holes in what i'm encountering compared to course, so if i had money i would definitely think about buying next one.

I like all of the live comm videos it's cool to see the thought process in real time. Would be cool to see you do a speed run series and recommend openings and ideas at certain levels

This was great! Very instructive! Thanks!

Liked the episode as it is, liked the series as it was, just enjoing this series a lot.

The first game was incredibly instructive, the pressure was insane but that's the type of game where we can learn a lot!! Thanks for this 🙏

This series is not getting boring at all Levy!! I freaking love it

Those new win at chess videos are slowly getting me back to chess. Really liked the series, just chill watching and snacking

I think you should continue to do lower Elo sub episodes and you can do higher Elo games as well if you're bored. I have watched every episode in this series since December this year and just crossed 1100 Elo and these are great learning tools for your viewers and I think hitting all elos of skill in this series benefits your broad range of subscribers. Keep them coming I am a big fan!

And seeing more of what your saying with the computer you can see the connection not just with pawns only now continuation presents its self in best moves situation.yeah its fun and dicey❤😊

Love this. Gimme a Levy speedrun

Started watching gotham about a year ago and picked chess back up. My elo was probably in the negatives before i found this guy, im about to crack 800 now

I love watching you play against people your level, when playing against weaker players you don't really have to worry about dealing with making a mistake or then getting a brutal attack

By far the best episode I have seen, the depth of the thinking process, the high complexity of the games, the violence of the plans.. awesome $h!t.

I can't speak for the older videos since I haven't seen them yet, but the 10 minute format against similar opponents probably is responsible for more developed ideas clashing, I liked how the games in this video were quite tense and educational because of this.

30:23 Nelson Lopez just posted a video a day or two ago, where he points this out (pawns on f2, g2, and h2, knight on f3 is great defense, but if one of those pieces moves, then an attack is possible). 1:00:04 Sacrifice THE ROOOOOOOOOOK!!!

Good vid. Can I give another suggestion? Take random challenges, randomized, in a certain window of time you specify? Id love a chance to get a casual game. Id stream it too so you could see it from my point of view :)