EP 461- IM John Bartholomew on Chess Improvement Lessons, The Scandinavian Defense & His New Business Venture from Perpetual Chess Podcast

Perpetual Chess Podcast

Ben Johnson

Episodes

EP 461- IM John Bartholomew on Chess Improvement Lessons, The Scandinavian Defense & His New Business Venture

57 minutes Posted Nov 25, 2025 at 9:00 am.

Thanks to our sponsor, Chessable.com! If you sign up for Chessable Pro in order to unlock discounts and additional features, be sure to use the following link:

Intro and Guest Introduction

IM John Bartholomew joins. We start with John’s chess improvement lessons learned from the LiChess Lone Wolf League

Self-Talk and Thought Process in Chess

The Importance of Time Management

The Importance of Opening Variety

The Value of Longer Time Controls

Introduction to John’s new venture- Chessiverse

Patreon mailbag questions:

Comparing Chessiverse to Other Platforms

Chessiverse's Business Model and Future Plans

John’s Scandinavian course

The Evolution of Scandinavian Theory

Navigating Course Design Challenges

The Vision for Chessiverse and Bot Experience

John’s memories of GM Daniel Naroditsky

If you would like to help support Perpetual Chess via Patreon, you can do so here:

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Show notes

IM John Barthomew is a former scholastic national champion turned popular and longtime chess Youtuber and serial entrepreneur. His clear and friendly teaching style has garnered him over 200,000 subs and many devotees of the Scandinavian defense, the opening for which he is best known. In our conversation we discuss:

Five chess improvement conclusions that John drew from playing in (and documenting) The LiChess LoneWolf League

The challenges and rewards of helping to build Chessiverse. Chessiverse offers over 600 “human-like” bots to play against, and is also the site where you can find John’s new, Comprehensive Scandinavian course.

Lastly, John told a few memorable stories about his good friend GM Daniel Naroditsky that reflect Daniel’s unusual talents.

It is always enjoyable talking chess with John, and there are many nuggets to be gleaned from this conversation.

0:00- Thanks to our sponsor, Chessable.com! If you sign up for Chessable Pro in order to unlock discounts and additional features, be sure to use the following link:

https://www.chessable.com/pro/?utm_source=affiliate&utm_medium=benjohnson&utm_campaign=pro

And you can check out their new offerings here:

https://www.chessable.com/courses/all/new/

03:00 IM John Bartholomew joins. We start with John’s chess improvement lessons learned from the LiChess Lone Wolf League

https://lichess.org/@/Fins/blog/what-i-learned-from-playing-lonewolf-league-season-37/19yaMKfW

Here is John’s Lone Wolf game recap playlist-

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLl9uuRYQ-6MCYu9m5ji2tJgIoU7JMHkD9&si=Lg1RvP2PhmX2M68Q

John’s Using the Clock as a Weapon Playlist:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLl9uuRYQ-6MD7go55KaMPOGKSHxXhWED_&si=e34rgZ05auwzOauQ

21:30 Patreon mailbag questions:

How does Chessiverse compare to other online products? What ratings is it best suited for?

Mentioned:

Ponomariov-Papaioannou 2003

https://lichess.org/q55Y75PQ#15

Mentioned: John’s tribute-

https://youtu.be/kclevjiPK5I?si=7CO6ydPqkyFNKBjy

Fundraiser for Danya-

https://givebutter.com/naroditsky

Thanks to John for rejoining! Here are links to keep up with him:

Newsletter:

https://johnbartholomewchess.com/the-chess-mindset-newsletter-im-john-bartholomew/

Course-

https://chessiverse.com/courses/scandi?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=scandi_search_tier1_purchase&utm_term=chess%20courses&utm_content=185814884617_782203235972_c&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=23214933240&utm_term=chess%20courses&utm_content=782203235972&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23214933240&gbraid=0AAAAABc5PsgmfRvqVuvKClF-9oZLSp0mn&gclid=Cj0KCQiAoZDJBhC0ARIsAERP-F_lAVpIoPksVCsZ5LG7GydpV4Wi8KIL4HMSbf_V_ZGei2837lHT57gaAu9fEALw_wcB