8 Extremely Instructive YouTube Chess Channels You Can Learn From

Trying to learn and improve in chess through reading books and articles may sometimes become tedious and boring since it takes a great deal of focus, concentration, and memory training to visualize positions and calculate variations from them. 

I could imagine how difficult it must have been for chess players to climb the chess ladder three or four decades ago so it really took much talent and perseverance for someone to stand out among the crowd and master the game of chess. 

For us, in the 21st century, we have powerful chess engines and chess software that could help us in analyzing games and variations and we also have decades of theory that continues to be improved so that we can make even more precise moves and find interesting combinations that help us gain advantages and ultimately win.

Personally, I am a visual learner and theoretically inclined. Illustrations in books might help but only slightly since you are only given a certain position from which you would have to move the pieces in your head as the book dictates the moves. It is also best for me to know why certain moves are made and so I would like to see the grand scheme of things, or the big picture when it comes to general strategy of a certain position. I guess asking questions and understanding every move whether is key for me to learn how to play chess and it would be better if the ideas behind moves were explained every step of the way because that would give me a clear idea on a master's train of thought and when I am able to comprehend their perspective of chess, I might be able to adapt this and incorporate it into my thinking process.

I found that this method can cause great mental fatigue and can really put a strain on your eyes if you are using a chess board while checking the book if you made the correct moves. This is when YouTube videos come in handy and here are some of the most prolific and helpful channels that helped me improve my game:

1. ChessNetwork

The most improvement that I noticed I had in playing chess was when I watched ChessNetwork's videos. Jerry is an American National Master and is one of the most, if not the most, energetic, humorous, and exciting chess commentators that I have seen on YouTube because he adds his own spice to the game based on his personal view and understanding of chess. 

I relate more to him because he is just as tactically inclined as I am so I derive some tactical ideas from his games. In his tournament videos, you might frequently hear him shout "h2!" and other chess expressions that are really quite entertaining and instructive at the same time.

2. Jrobichess

I recommend watching jrobi's videos if you are still a beginner wanting to get a firm foundation of chess and building a good understanding of the principles and mechanisms of the game. It has been a long time since he last updated his channel and I can only guess that he has stopped making videos nevertheless, his videos are very instructive and he can explain and simplify certain chess concepts that may seem alien to a newbie so that you can really grasp the essence of these concepts.

3. MatoJelic

Mato is probably the newest guy on the block relative to the other channels on this list but he is also the easiest to understand from my perspective because he gives the emphasis to the most significant parts of the games he analyzes that show the turning point of the game and how one player eventually gained the upper hand and the victory. 

I like his approach because he keeps the concepts simple and easy to understand and focuses on the important moments of the games he analyzes and also he does not give you an information overload which is incredibly helpful for beginners. 

He is an Australian chess player with a deep Russian accent and I somewhat think of him as North from the Rise of the Guardians film. Oftentimes, you would hear his most famous expression which decidedly signals the turning point of every game he analyzes, "The Killer Move."

4. Kingscrusher

Kingscrusher provided me with tons of supplemental lessons, ideas, and concepts that worked hand in hand with the lessons I get from other channels. Kingscrusher is a British Candidate Master and he actually has his own chess website. 

What I like about Kingscrusher is that he makes a wide variety of chess videos which not only include grandmaster games and his games but also games from movies and he gives an insightful analysis to these games. Kingscrusher is also very meticulous in analyzing games because he really explores every nook and cranny, every variation for positions using even a chess engine to verify the moves that he takes note of. 

5. OnlineChessLessons

If you want to focus on improving in certain aspects of the game, I would recommend Online Chess Lessons because they have a collaboration of different chess masters who each have their own experiences that we can learn from and knowledge that we can take. 

Since there are many masters who work together and make videos for this channel, you can expect that they can cover a wide range of topics and events in chess and can give the latest and most updated games. They are very active and can really give deep insights especially to master games.

6. PowerPlayChess

Daniel King is definitely a Grand Master and chess commentator who is always in the know since he brings his expert advice and analysis on the most prestigious and strongest chess tournaments all around and he always gets right to the point. His analyses are quite enriching and fruitful especially if you desire to think like a master and get to know how their minds work and what ideas they can see that most of us could not see most of the time.

7. Chessexplained

Chessexplained is probably the most technical and theoretical chess commentators that I have seen. He mostly uploads his personal online games where he would actually lay out his plan and show us his execution of it. 

He also is very flexible and pragmatic when it comes to the different openings or variations that he plays because as I have seen, he can play any position and win even if he has the disadvantage. He has a very solid understanding of chess principles which enables him to play very uncompromisingly and even turn games around. He is a German International Master so he has got quite a good amount of experience.

8. STL Chess Club

I have only recently watched videos from this channel and I enjoyed it because they showcase some of the strongest players in America such as GM Varuzhan Akobian, GM Yasser Seirawan, and GM Ben Finegold and they also have special guests that would give a lecture to the club. 

I really liked their chess videos because they showed the interaction between the masters and the students as they give their lectures so it gives the viewer the impression that he is in an actual chess class. Their insights are also very helpful since you can watch videos from beginner level to advanced level and still pick up something from it.

Watching videos definitely helps one to gather new insights and ideas to improve his understanding chess but at the end of the day, your improvement would depend on how much effort you exert to arrive at your goal and how much passion you really have for learning about chess.

UPDATE:

I have found that there are also other very educational and interesting chess channels around Youtube which I have only seen over the past year. Some of these are Zibbit, GM Giant fist, GM Ben Finegold also has his own channel now, and IM John Bartholomew. These guys are worth watching and being entertained with. 

Actually, I was quite surprised with GM Giant fist who is a 10- or 11-year old boy with more understanding behind strategic concepts and more experience in chess for his young age. On the other hand, GM Ben Finegold who is quite entertaining at the STL Chess Club channel would bring just as much wit and entertainment in his channel only without seeing his facial expressions.