How good is the Backyard Professor?

It means I have general knowledge about internet stuff. He's been in the news lately because T-series, which is some kind of media company in India, is about to have more subscribers.

Also about... maybe 10 years ago I was interested in who had the most subscribers because I thought they'd have really interesting videos. So I watched a little of pewdiepie at that time and it was like fart jokes for children or something heh.

Also, maybe BYP videos these days are not so god awful... but I don't care enough to find out.

In the beginning they were comically bad though. Like really, it would be hard to cram so many false statements into 1 video. As someone how knew how to actually play chess it was really difficult listening to him talk.

But sure, maybe these days he's not totally insane. After all he did stop making his weird Mormon conspiracy theory video crap, so he's not a total doofus... I guess.

When you spew misinformation, you are hurting not helping. BYP is dangerous to himself—standing in the way of his own improvement—and harmful to any chess aspirants who imbibe his teachings.

He needs to stop teaching, completely. He needs to put away every book other than those with simple tactics, such as those by John Bain for children. He needs to solve hundreds of simple tactical exercises, then play chess, then solve hundreds more exercises, then play more. He needs to listen to those who beat him, but even here he should be careful because very bad players with all sorts of wrong ideas will beat him senseless until he has solved thousands of tactical exercises.

He should play through every game Paul Morphy ever played repeatedly until he can cover the game score and predict Morphy’s moves more than 80% of the time.

..........his recent videos have  improved as most chess players have no real choice if they keep playing to do anything but.   as for weird Mormon conspiracy theory........people are mostly selfish everywhere........even god believers......and ornithologists.......If your hobby were bird watching of course......

Dear friend, why you felt I am attacking you? I am talking in general, via your words... accept my apologize for that bad feeling... Honest, love and trust.

I myself happen to like BYP. Well, more so the music that opens & closes his Driggs Valley video where he smothicates a person.

Tactics video from the BYP today.  He missed forking the queen in the first puzzle, but he did see that he could fork a rook, so that's a step in the right direction...sorta....I guess.  Also missed mate in 3 in the second puzzle. Good luck to him.  I hope he keeps at it.

OMG, it's hard to believe that he missed the queen fork

Is it possible that he missed it on purpose to drive up his view count?

good point of view

He seems to have improved. I like watching him from the time of his come back. He is entertaining and educating. Yeah, this vitriol against him by self appointed experts is not good. 

I watched one of his endgame one's, and the position was winning, with a pretty obvious move, yet, a different move was played, though still winning

The BYP takes u thru his thought process. Higher-rated players laugh openly ('cuz they've been there already) but it's revealing and it's helpful to players under 1600 - where most players involuntarily make camp.

For beginners, he is excellent to start with.  He is entertaining, thoughtful, and sincere.  His old videos ate well produced and entertaining.  He is a very good teacher for those rated just starting to 1300, maybe 1400 because he thinks the way they do a d therfore understands better the problems of a lower-rated player.

 

People who criticise him tend to be of tne higher-rated type who see errors he makes and therefore consider him weak to teach.  But these are the same players wno do not and cannot understand the weaknesses of tne lower-rated player.  He teaches, as he learns, even points out his mistakes, showing that even the best of teachers err.  

 

If I were to criticise him, it would be to say he has gotten less serious tnan he was.  He must be improving because I glanced at a video in which he said beat a 1900, not too shabby for a 1200 or 800.

 

As far as watching beginner videos, even Mikail Tal watched begi ner chess on Russian T.V. when he was a GM.

 

Okay. The videos could be useful to teachers as examples of flawed thinking. But that's a stretch. From a pedagogical point of view, there are a million better uses of instructional time.

 

I've taught hundreds of beginners who struggled to overcome bad ideas that they clung to. Maybe it was their uncle who inculcated such garbage. Maybe a father, older brother, or well-meaning teacher who was a terrible chess player.

As the saying goes, it's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you know that ain't so.

There's a reason strong players dislike him. They know that his ideas are horrid and will hold you back.

The worst thing a beginner can do is learn chess from someone who does not understand the game.

If ever one who tried to teach had to be perfect, we would have no teachers.  He meets the  criterion for teaching anything:  he motives his students to learn more.  Those who would   mock him should try doing what he does.  I can assure you players will find errors in your presentation as well.

 

 

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/the-backyard-professor

No, if you cannot motivate students, you cannot teach.

 

I'm not perfect. Indeed, I am only strong relative to my community where there are no masters (okay, one moved here, but only plays one event most years).

BYP's problem is not imperfection, it is gross incompetence.

His videos are not so much lacking in value as wholly counterfeit. He retards the skill development of anyone who seeks to learn from him. If your enthusiasm for the game stems from watching a happy fool, you will never be a chess player.

I've taught more than a thousand children to play chess. Some of them have become state champions. All of them have a foundation that will not hinder further growth. I have a chess blog with over 1200 posts. I've made half a dozen very boring, but reasonably instructive YouTube videos. I subscribe to more than a dozen high-quality chess channels. 

 

Teaching (several subjects) has been my principle activity since the early 1980s. My enthusiasm for the topic--whether chess or the history of engineering--has been noted by administrators, students, parents.

I've taught subjects that I know extremely well, and subjects where some of my students know more than I do. It is vital that the manner of presentation reflects the level of one's competence. BYP utterly fails to comprehend his own defects. No amount of enthusiasm can mitigate the damage that he does by pretending expertise where ignorance reigns.

I live a day's drive from the BYP and know many people in real life who know him and have appeared in one or two of his videos (he made a video of his second rated tournament). He's a nice guy who has no business teaching chess.

 

His OTB is under 800.