For most kids my age, Youtube is a place to relearn chemistry for tomorrow’s test, or kick back and watch stand–up comedy, music videos, or sports highlights. But did you know that there are some pretty good chess channels worth subscribing to on Youtube? Here are a couple of my recommendations.

1. Valeri Lilov

Lilov is an International Master from Bulgaria, and posts a fair number of videos on openings. I like his videos because they are more focused towards teaching thematic ideas rather that showing theory. While his videos are aimed to players rated about 1400, there are a couple gems in his video collection for both higher and lower rated players. You can find his channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/TigerLilov

2. Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis

On this channel, the St. Louis Chess Center posts videos of past lectures hosted at their center. Averaging about half an hour each, masters often featured are GM Akobian, GM Finegold, and GM Yasser Seirwan. The St. Louis Chess Center also hosted the US Chess Championships this past year, so highlights and analysis for each round of both the men’s and the women’s section are posted on their channel. https://www.youtube.com/user/STLChessClub/featured

3. ChessNetwork

This channel is aimed more towards entry level players, so its great for kids! There are a couple advanced level videos on their channel, but not nearly as many as the St. Louis Chess Club Channel. The reason I like this channel is that if there is a specific pattern you must know, this is a good first stop. ChessNetwork has good videos on bishop and knight mates, rook against bishop mates, etc. https://www.youtube.com/user/ChessNetwork/featured

4. chess.com

This channel is a bit more laid back, and focuses more on the ongoing of major tournaments around the world. Popular videos on their channel include “Bullet Brawls” and “Hack Attack” with IM Thomas Rendle. If you are looking for more instructional content from chess.com, you should consider getting a Diamond membership (totally worth it) and watch videos on their site.

https://www.youtube.com/user/wwwChesscom

Hope that’s enough videos to get you started!

Feel like I missed something? Feel free to comment below!