Is Openings Relevant for Beginners?

Chessable is a sponsor of the pod. Ben: I agree that club players, there's been an evolution in how I think about it as I've been doing this for six years. But opening STEM year not irrelevant, but they are overemphasized. Even if you devote a few hours to trying to memorize some theory for a particular opening, you can kind of trick you into thinking that you've got an advantage going into the middle gameIf you think that an opening has gone your way.

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This month, The Adult Improver Series welcomes Ben Hunt of the Chess Boot Camp YouTube Channel. Through his channel and a Chess.com forum, Ben has built a community around helping players rated 500-1200 improve. Ben started pursuing chess seriously in 2019 and shares tons of helpful reflections including his favorite content creators, the challenges of transitioning to OTB, and what he has learned from creating a YouTube channel geared towards fellow chess amateurs. Ben’s enthusiasm for chess is contagious, and I really enjoyed hearing his perspective.

0:00- Thanks to recent Patreon subs, if you would like to join the community you can do so here:

https://www.patreon.com/perpetualchess

Sub to the Perpetual Chess linkfest here:

https://benjohnson.substack.com/

02:00- Ben got very interested very quickly in chess in 2019- what precipitated that?

Mentioned: Chess.com Lessons

07:00- Who are Ben’s favorite chess content creators?

Mentioned: Ginger GM, IM Alex Banzea, GM Daniel Naroditsky, St. Louis Chess Club, Jonathan Schrantz, IM John Bartholomew

10:00-Patreon mailbag question: “What is the goldfish method?” Why does Ben sometimes struggle to implement it?”

Mentioned: Ben’s Goldfish Method Video, Move First Think Later, Chess Steps Method

17:30- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Chessable.com. Check out their latest courses here: https://www.chessable.com/courses/all/new/

18:30- What has it been like for Ben to try out OTB play in the UK?

23:00- Ben discusses his opening repertoire a bit as we discuss whether openings are overemphasized for club players.

Mentioned: IM Andras’ Toth’s The Beginners 1. D4 Repertoire, SImon Williams’ The British Grand Prix, The Dvoretsky Endgame Manual, Silman’s Complete Endgame Course, 100 Endgames You Must Know

34:00- Patreon mailbag question: “What advice does Ben give to those who are struggling translating increased knowledge to an OTB performance above the 1000 level?”

42:00- What is Ben’s tactics regimen?

Mentioned: Chessbootcamp.club, The Woodpecker Method, Book Recap #6: The Woodpecker Method

50:00- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Aimchess.com. Aimchess’ algorithm reviews your games and gives you actionable advice on how to improve your game. Check it out for free, and if you choose to subscribe you can use the code Perpetual30 to save 30%.

Or use this link for the same discount:

https://aimchess.com/try?ref=benjohnson12

51:00- What kind of material does Ben present on his YouTube channel?

55:00- Patreon mailbag question: “What are Ben’s chess goals?”

1:01:00- Patreon mailbag question: “When you are showing a tactical puzzle, how important is it to show the moves that preceded the puzzle?”

1:05:00- What are Ben’s interests outside of chess?

1:07:00- As we say our goodbyes, Ben gives 3 tips for getting to 1000.

Thanks to Ben for joining! Here is how to keep up with him:

Chess.com profile

https://www.chess.com/member/benhunt72

Chess Bootcamp YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/c/ChessBootCamp