Just had coffee with Calvin a couple weeks ago. (With Calvin, a cup of coffee is a 5 hour experience). Loves chess. Loves humans. I hope good things happen for him with this video coming out.

5:14 "He was looking down the diagonal. He was trying to imagine what the bishop was thinking." Right there, sir, you earned my double thumbs up.

Enjoyable lecture, played you once & Calvin a few times. It was nice to reminice & see some Blocker game anylized by you ! Thanks, Ric Marshall

I traveled to Ohio to visit a friend in summer 1987, and entered the “Parma Open”. I was 3-0, then had to face the other 3-0. This was one Calvin Blocker. I believe he was the 30th strongest player in the US at the time. I was a mere 2050 or so player. The game was a real war. It was like 95 degrees and the tourney was outdoors. The sweat poured out of both of us. Well, I gave him some challenge, went 70 moves, but of course I lost in the endgame. Thank you Calvin Blocker for giving me a great memory, I am glad to hear you’re alive and well!

I played Calvin in a Cleveland Open one time (I was 18xx and he was 22xx). I actually had a chance to simplify to a drawn pawn endgame, but I miscalculated it as a win for him and so played something else, subsequently losing. Later, I played him in either an Ohio Chess Congress or Cardinal Open (both in Columbus, OH). I blundered a piece (I had 3 different recaptures, but they all lost in different ways), so I resigned. I remember seeing a young Ben Finegold playing in some Ohio tournaments, also.

Thank you for this recording! Calvin still makes some appearances in the Cleveland chess scene. He is quite interesting and brilliant. Had the pleasure of losing to him in a simul and in a rapid game. Takes every game seriously, and can indeed speak for hours : ) He is regarded as a chess legend in Cleveland.

Thanks Ben for this great lecture and for honoring Calvin. I must say that Calvin was always a gentleman to me as you were, both of you had the gift that when you talked to me that you never talked down to me. Thank you for your and Calvin’s kindness to me! Tony Mantia

Never saw this originally, great to cover some IMs of the past!!

I enjoyed this video about a local-legend player you know personally. “Write about what you know” works for videos.

Ben always teaches me something, makes me laugh, and relax; I think I love this guy

You should do a podcast style episode with Calvin B, he would provide a fascinating conversation for your audience!

A great player whom I've had the pleasure of watching play over the years (for me mostly in the early 2000's). I ran into him at a tournament last year and it was good to chat with him. He was an early chess hero of mine when I first started playing chess competitively.

In the early 1990s Bill Watterson's work was so overexposed that I had to install a Calvin blocker on my Mac.

I’m from Ohio and I’ve never been to an OTB tournament, but even I know about Calvin Blocker. Nice to see some proper coverage on him

Always play Kf8 half the time.

I knew Calvin in the early 1970s, before he became really good but everybody knew he was going to be very good. He got coaching from Milan Vukcevich, who was a professor at CWRU at the time. Vukcevich was at one point ranked #75 in the world, when there were only about 80 GMs. His OTB accomplishments included a tie for 1st place in the 1969 US Open (including wins against Bisguier and Denker) and 3rd place in the 1975 US Championship (with wins against Tarjan, Grefe, and Reshevsky). His focus on his scientific career (nominated for a Nobel Prize in chemistry) and composing chess puzzles (GM of Chess Composition and induction into the Chess Hall of Fame in that capacity) kept him from pursuing the OTB GM title. PLEASE do a video on this marvelous player.

Thank you for this. I remember Calvin, *a vivid memory* from when we were undergrads at CWRU. He had a wonderful knack for explication, or teaching, and could describe a game in a way that made it luminous even to a non-player like me.

so glad to finally see calvin get more publicity! he’s a fantastic player, and a fantastic coach!

Crazy I'm from Toledo I've never heard of this guy.

I remember Calvin Blocker from the Chicago open many years ago. Someone was complaining a bit about how chess wasn't fun, and Blocker was giving them more than the just "turn that frown upside down" or "don't stress out" or "be lucky with what you have" lecture. I don't remember it now, but I sort of needed it a bit, too, after losing a long game.

Great video! Thank you Ben. I remember seeing Calvin Blocker playing up in Michigan once at a tourney in Ann Arbor.

"Every move, De Firmian missed the best move: resigns" LOL love it, great lecture.

I gave Calvin the analysis for this game on index cards after researching the Sveshnikov at the John G. White library in the early 80's. FM John McCarthy

Calvin sounds wonderful

Never heard of this guy. Now I have. Thanks!

My man there is no intro in the world I love more then ben’s one

Thank you for making new lectures Mr Finegold ! The content is almost as class as the man doing the lecture

Great LECTURE

Absolutely not an exaggeration…Calvin Blocker is one of my most favorite people I’ve ever had the honor of spending time with.

I'm from Ohio but I was never involved with the chess scene when I lived there. It's nice to hear about one of our great players!

I've had the honors of talking with Calvin Blocker. He sure is a talkative person... however he has so much to teach. Infact I almost highred him as my chess coach a few years ago. What an inspiring gentleman/chess Master

He used to come to our chess club at Case Western Reserve University.

The position in the second game vs Sprenkle reminds me of a Sveshnikov, but mirrored.

Is there a better chess analysis site on KZfaq than Mr. Finegold.'s ? I dont think so.

A new lecture! Woo hoo

"IM Calvin Blocker"? No you're not! You're Ben Finegold.

You should do a video on Larry C

blocker is a very nice fellow.

Maglietta fantastica!

Actually, your pronunciation of the word Zwischenzug is really good. Greetings from Germany.

Around 33:00 ish, would black never want to sac the c pawn by playing ...c4, Nxc4 in order to open the file and get some counter play on the queen side?

QA8 seems pretty winning in that third game.

"im c. blocker" hmm, very suspicious.

I heard he killed the brother of IM Inigo Montoya

True Ohio chess moment.

Shot in the dark... do you have Calvin's contact information? Even an email works. He was a dear friend I've lost touch with.. haven't seen him in 22 years... but he remembers me. He remembers everything.

Me: How many of you are focusing on Ben's dancing belly? GM Ben Finegold: That's why I am GM Ben Finegold and you are not. 😁

I love the shirt 👕

Ben, since we both hail from Detroit we are contractually obligated not to like anybody or anything from Ohio that is not Cedar Point. That being said, I love this lecture and it's too bad Blocker didn't make a bigger name for himself.

Go Eric White

"One of the best players from Ohio, EVER" ? Pfffft. I'm the best player on my block.

That call to Las Vegas was really mean((( I lost all my savings!

Ah yes, C. Block

Emory Tate would be an interesting choice for a Great Players of the Past.

Played in literally 1984

Fix it fix it fix it fix it. Doesn't work for me. But might be my computer, i don't know

haha good one ben, we all know ohio isn't a real place

No thing exciting

JUST MET N PLAYED CALV♟N BL🧐CKER HAD A GREAT TIME TALKING CHESS N ANALYZING MATE IN TWO POSITIONS