OpenTube

My Great Middlegames of 1987 & 1988 - GM Ben Finegold

Saint Louis Chess Club

118,648 views

Grandmaster Ben Finegold travels back to his pre-Grandmaster days in Michigan. These middlegames feature his opponents making strategical and tactical mistakes.

2016.01.05
Benjamin Finegold vs. Gary Kitts, 1987: D97 Gruenfeld, Russian, Alekhine (Hungarian) variation
Finegold vs. Burt Izumikawa, 1987: D53 Queen's Gambit Declined, 4.Bg5 Be7
Fabio La Rota vs. Finegold, 1988: B12 Caro-Kann, advance variation

20 Comments

@burtizumikawa8692 10 years ago

I'm Burt Izumikawa (2nd game opponent), and I found this hilarious. I was out of my league in that junior championship losing every game but the last one and only making it as an alternate for Jon Litvinchuk. Little did I know that a few participants would go on to be US champions.

I only play chess casually now, but have a lot of good memories from that tournament, such as staying with fellow tournament participant Dan Edelman and walking through downtown New York, watching The Untouchables.

Ben was hilarious then too. I don't recall the exact lines, but I knew he poked fun at fellow participant Vivek Rao to the tune of Janet Jackson's Nasty, something like "Who that refuting the Sicilian Dragon "Nasty Rao, Nasty Rao".

@Petros11888 9 years ago

holy shit, i just discovered this guy and he is insanely funny. How do the students not laugh? This is better than stand up comedy . I could watch for hours straight

@churchillhanky 10 years ago

what did i do before ben finegold lectures?

@MAMP 10 years ago

2:14 "usually I reserve that for a blitz tournament when I'm rushin' " LOLOLOL X-D

@ganjalfthegreen1574 10 years ago

My life wihout Ben's lectures? Terrible

@ChessGM1 10 years ago

I want my child to learn to play chess from Mr. Finegold.

@MAMP 10 years ago

This guy is so funny.

@possumverde 10 years ago

0:40 I could've sworn either Alekhine or Tal had already written such a book.

@mfRamen 9 years ago

this dude always cracks me up. I love his lectures

@DavePoirierMI 10 years ago

Who disliked? Kummer?

@Implosion99 10 years ago

Love it when Ben talks to the audience at home - it's almost like he's there in the room and can see you. He caught me napping at 11:15 - sorry Ben!

@RyanC232 10 years ago

Best lecturer of 2016!

@MsUncleKevin 10 years ago

Ben deserves the funniest guy of century award.

@Dlerma-bq8oh 9 years ago

i actually took a screenshot of your nice center in game 1
:D

@marcushernandez7623 10 years ago

Ben Finegold makes my day

@bierchen71 10 years ago

A Ben Finegold lecture where he's explaining why he is the geatestest? Brilliant!

@BiffBifford 7 years ago

Ben is my favorite GM for character reasons. No one loves Ben more than Ben loves Ben. Not even Ben's wife loves Ben more than Ben loves Ben. But, what makes Ben so great a chess personality is his ability to make light of his play while trash-talking his opponents. I like when he belittles the kids and they don't even know it. God bless you, Ben! You make chess fun!