"Let's call on a random student. Arjun!" He's been doing this forever and it's always Arjun. Ben's best running joke.

The internet was basically a wasteland until finegold came back

The Finegold Arjun relationship makes this video even better haha

Fischer-Panno 1970 Palma de Mallorca 1. c4 Black Resignd

"White played e4 and black resigned" Ah, the French Defence.

This is my new favorite GM, I love the trashtalk.

Boris Spassky *IS* my favorite player! I love the tension between old Soviet principles and his personal need for novelty and expression.

Ben Finegold not only GM but great comedian guy too , awesome

i've been watching 2-3 of finegold's lectures a day for a few weeks, and at first i was like "who is this extremely talkative kid?" and now i'm like "just another perfect call and response between finegold and arjun"

A Finegold video? SOLID!

I didnt know ben knew the french opening, E4 - resigns

Grandmaster Ben Finegold! We require more of your teachings..

GM Ben Finegold makes the study of the games humorous and insightful! I am glad he has these videos. Thank you for your lectures!

I got the book on Pillsbury and it was very good. Pillsbury is not forgotten in MA. A hometown legend. Love ya Ben!

I love Ben finegold with all of my heart.

Very good chess teacher!!! I Always watch his classes , learn a lot !!!!

Ben is in rare form, this has got to be one of his best comedic videos I've seen 🤣

Dude you are one of the funniest, and best informed chess teachers on the Galaxy! I am soooooooo enjoying your videos! Thanks for sharing your knowledge and making us laugh while learning. A HUGE two thumbs up!

nice video! watched it all the way through. thanks!

A small detail: The 'Battle of Hastings' was actually fought in a place called 'Battle'. As 'The Battle of Battle' would have sounded silly they named it 'Hastings' after a nearby town. Anyhow, I love the lectures by Finegold and try to follow one each day.

Great stuff :)

Great class thank u

Not enough Ben videos 😅

The only games I know by heart are scholar's mate and fool's mate.

Something tells me that Larsen didn't actually say "RAAARRRH, I wanna be on board one!"

I love his sarcasm! That opening line totally cracked me up lol

Is it just me or has the volume in latest videos been a tad too low? I like it when turning the volume all the way up on KZfaq it's too loud, and 75% just right. More boost needed!

Always entertaining

I love Ben's videos, i really do! He is, along side with Akhobian, my favorite SL chess teacher!

You gave me a number of good laughs with this video...You should find out what you can about these 2 chess books; (1.) The Incomparable Twins (Lasker vs Pillsbury games), also this book has a tribute written by Lasker in honor of his friend and opponent Pillsbury!... (2.) Pillsbury vs Russia ( Pillsbury played 50 games of chess and they are all in this book )... In addition, while playing these chess games, Pillsbury was also simultaneously playing 50 games of checkers and a game of Duplicate Whist! Now, let me explain the setup for this in Russia, THE 50 Chess Games were played in one building, the 50 Checkers Games were played in a second building, and in a third building, Pillsbury was sitting and playing a game of Duplicate Whist. A loudspeaker system was set up to connect the 3 buildings, so Pillsbury could announce all his moves for all the Chess and Checkers games while he played Duplicate Whist. When it was lunchtime they paused all the games... After lunch, but before all the games were to be resumed; the Russian Chess Masters wanted to make a fool of Pillsbury because they didn't believe anything they heard about his phenomenal feats of MEMORY. So they invited him to come into the first building where the 50 games were being played... The moves and game positions for all 50 chess games were carefully recorded so they could easily be set back up the way they were before the lunch break. I say this because when Pillsbury saw the boards for the very first time, they had all been cleared and set back at the Starting Position. Now, the Russians were ready to spring their surprise Memory Test Challenge on Pillsbury so that it would prove him to be nothing but an arrogant American fraud that they all believed him to be. Here's the challenge; They asked Pillsbury to play out all the moves of all 50 games right up to the point when they were paused for the lunch break, or as best and as far as he could using only his memory. Then the Russians would check each board noting all his errors and missing moves... However, Pillsbury knew they were expecting to make a fool of him. The Russians were in for a shocking surprise! Here's what Pillsbury did; a big smile appeared on his face as he set down his lit thick black cigar, then he walked up to the first chessboard... quickly removing ALL the chess pieces, and then putting back only the pieces (on both sides) that were still in play at the time the Lunch Break was called. Then Pillsbury did the same thing to boards 2 - 50. (NOTE: ALL THE PIECES ON ALL THE BOARDS WERE PLACED ON THE RIGHT SQUARES, he made no mistakes.) But, Pillsbury was far from being finished with his demonstration; he then recited the name of his Russian opponent at each board, plus all the moves made in each game so far, and finished his demonstration by telling each of his opponents the exact number of moves that remained in their games until he forced them all into checkmate!!!!! After this, play resumed and Pillsbury won all 50 chess games, he won all 50 checkers games, and he won his game of Duplicate Whist!!!!! The Russians were the ones who were humiliated and embarrassed, but they asked for it because they intended to do the same to Pillsbury with their surprise memory test. So the Russians learned a valuable lesson from this demonstration by the Amazing Pillsbury! Oh! One more thing there was a great book published on Pillsbury in 1922 titled "Pillsbury's Chess Career"; but earlier it was published under its ORIGINAL TITLE, " The Invincible Pillsbury "... The book contains a wonderful portrait of Harry Nelson Pillsbury, plus 2 games I want to mention here. The book has the very first game of World Chess Champion Steinitz playing Pillsbury when he was only 11yrs old! And Pillsbury won! The other game I want to tell you about is as follows; Pillsbury and Lasker were playing a game and on move 7 Pillsbury decided to play a different move instead of the one he had planned to play, just to see what his friend Lasker would do. He did it for fun, even though he ended up losing that game. But, 10 long years later (due to their schedules), they were finally able to get together again to replay this game! The interest in this rematch was incredible, fortunes were bet on who the winner would be. Imagine the setting; a room full of wealthy fans watching two chess giants play what has since become a very famous game in chess history for it was the last time these 2 great friends would meet across the board. Please note; that they both played the exact same first 6 moves they had played in that game 10 years earlier. But, on move 7, this time Pillsbury played the move that he had planned to play in that previous game. This time Pillsbury was playing a straight serious game of chess with his friend. Since they never met across the board again; this game was appropriately titled... " The Last Bolt Of Lightning "! There was a tv show on the educational channel in Canada that focused on showing viewers the greatest games of chess ever played. And, of all the games they had showcased on their show over the years, the one episode that all the fans requested repeatedly over and over again. Well, it was the episode that showed the game called "The Last Bolt Of Lightning"!!!!! By the way, I happen to own that chess book on Pillsbury. Hope I didn't bore you with my long comment. I don't know if you can find this game online or not.

If there ever is a University teaching "Chess history", Ben Finegold is the first expert. If there was a title "Best Stand-up-chess comedian" - it's ... right, Arjun!

I love this. Reminded me of being taught in the 1970's without the corporal punishment! The desire not to be humiliated is a big incentive for some. The flip-side is it's disastrous for others. I guess it tells us quickly which subjects are best suited to our talents. I can't imagine any strong young players being intimidated here.

Hello, I am chatting from Spain. First at all congratulations for the videos and the lessons. I'd like to make a question about the play between Spassky vs Antonomov. Instead of the move Knight to b4 done by Antonomov, would it be posible and better the move knight to a5, and next one Night to c4?. Excuse me for my possible mistakes in English.

10:43 references are not jokes!!!! (you are awesome GM Finegold!)

Ben Finegold is a golden god!!!!!

Not gonna criticize you like other viewers inconsideratly but I will say the 2nd game was already shown in games to remember ironically i don't remember who showed it I believe mr. Shrantz bit again thx for the good video st louis amd gm finegold

0:20 "So, the first game, White played e4..." You know you're deep in the Finegoldverse when you complete the sentence in unison with him, "... and Black resigned" on first viewing of hte lecture.

I like this guy

GM Ben Finegold, your indolence is inefficacious. Let's ask a random student what that means. ARJUN!

Am I the only one who loved his ''every other move is like stockfish 9'' (6:28) joke?

The day they invent the Finegold-gambit we clap!

i started learning chess one year ago and i feel i mostly understand general principles (Ben usually teach these in the videos), where im terrible at: calculating variaitons, so how can i improve my calculations? im usually lost after depth ~4 :D i like your videos, keep doing it

Guys at 16:18 he names a chess book about Pillsbury, does anyone know who the author is or if it's sold somewhere? Can't find it !

"checkmate with advantage"

0:30 no didn't know e4 and resigns but I do know d4 Nf6 c4 resigns.

I don't think I've ever laughed so much in a chess video that's for sure

2:50 caught me off guard - Finegold fails to disappoint despite of all expectations.

great:)

These comments down there... He is greedy because he gives you the opportunity to donat... News: You do not have to! All vids on KZfaq here are free so what? I like his videos much because the way he explaines is funny and you´ll keep them mind more easy, very cool even for me, a Ken West with like elo 1700-1800. Regards to all here

hehehehe Argen rocks! he should give a brief chess lesson on anything he likes/find interesting!

One of the most beautiful games ever played. (It also withstands rigorous computer analysis!!) It is also, in my opinion, a very original game of chess, and it is not anticipated by any other game. - LIFE Master A.J. Goldsby I 16. Bxh6!!, (Wow!) A brilliant rejoinder, most likely unforeseen by Winawer. Chernev only gives this one exclamation point, (And the FIRST move in this game to receive an exclamation mark by Chernev.); but since White had some VERY viable alternative(s), I think it fully deserves two exclams. - LM A.J. Goldsby I

Anyone who doesn't know how great Spassky was should try to get his 100 Best Games by Bernard Cafferty. I played through it when I was a kid and I got hold of a copy a few years ago and went through the games again to remind myself of his brilliance at his peak. Sadly losing to Fischer killed his fighting spirit and he was never again the same player.

f4... a great example of the 'central fishing pole' lol.

Dude. Everytime I see Feingold I think: This dude needs to hit the Gym. Props for mentioning Pillsbury

What's Arjun rating and age?

who is in that picture on the far left behind Ben?

Well thats one of my favorita games, cuz i didnt see it before today jajajaajajja

Arjun is like bart. He never olds!

I lost it when he said the kid at the camp guessed 'me?' for who Fischer beat to become World Champion

really unfortunate what happened to Spassky after he lost to Fischer. I was able to see Spassky play but he never regained his fire after 1972. I forget where I saw him. He got some sort of appearance fee and when I went to watch his games it was always 12 moves and then he asked for a draw. That pretty much says it all. I think it's really Spassky's fault that he isn't more well known. Spassky was incredibly strong even during the Karpov-Kasparov years that is during the 80's but Spassky didn't have the fighting spirit to challenge Karpov or Kasparov for the title. He should have and could have but without a good fighting spirit you can't challenge for the world championship.

Larsen vs. Spassky - Move 15. What about Kf1 instead of Rxh1? ...the idea: 15. Kf1 / Qh4 16. Bf3 / exf3 17. Qf5+ / Kb8 18. Q5 ...anything wrng with that?

Who was playing against Spassky? Bent Larsen or Matt Larsen?

Nick Pope is a goalkeeper for Newcastle United in UK also wrote a book on Pillsbury? nice

Spassky is ,super Great!!

Ben and Arjun might be my favourite people in the world.

"if you take it I have no idea what I would do but I know what I would do"👀 10:55

Arjun!!!!!!

Stockfish: "1.e4 with mate in 64" Me: "Fair enough" *resigns*

18:34 when i said boris spassky there was this little really loud crickets... I was like how they get in here

17:45 The best :D

The Larsen vs Spassky game was played when Larsen thought that his Zoom 007 opening system was good.

Was that a Trump joke by Kaidanov at 27:40 that didn't make it through Ben Simon's fine editing work?

Imagine we have a time machine. We go back to the 1850s and grab Morphy. We give him say a year for intensive daily chess study, then we go back to Fischer in '71 and give him maybe three months to catch up on the latest opening theory. Then we get them to play each other in a 24 game match. Who wins? I think Fischer, but maybe only by one game.

Spassky would have been 12 years old when he played this game.Boris Vasilievich is considered one off the greatest natural talents in chess history.

the volume on these vids is a little low

This is (Fine)gold rigth here.

RAR! go ben

Can someone explain the tea in China joke?

White played e4 and black resigned! That was not Roofus vs. Doofus, but a game I played online.😂😂😂😋😋

2:00 You finally agreed that steinitz was a good player!

it is great to remove dust to show some of spassky greatness.....he is really underestimated world champion I like his universality and lines he plays also his personality

29:18 lmao i love when he rips on modern chess

Youuuu... INCORRECT!!!!!!

6:00 seriously, if you do play h6 on move 3 against the Italian, I'm going to take that as a sign of weakness and relentlessly attack you. I score really well against 3... h6

i was hoping for a joke about Magnus getting mad at Maurice.

Pillsbury died young, which is probably the biggest reason why so many people don't know too much about him.

Hastings 1895!

"People on the internet say that 'Mike Kummer is the worst', 'I hate Mike Kummer'. I should stop doing that."

The variation in the semislav with Bd6 basically led to a position from the Scandinavian except where black has their bishop trapped behind their own pawns. Terrible.

very suspicious jokes

Whats up with Argen?

24:15, paid by the hour, ahah!

Check

He is threatning Rxh1 with a advantage

Who else think Steinitz v van bardeleben is the best chess game ever, muvh more beautifull than any ever green, inmortal, game of the century, opera game et cetera?

OMG just realised I didn't watch this for the chess!

ben made the games as short as possible so he walked his king up the kingside in a closed position right. doh

1. d4... And here I would like to take pause and talk for an hour about why Black is lost.

The level of disappointment from Finegold at the beginning of this video XD

If ever win the world championship, I'm going to retire. I'm like a 700 now, so it should be in a few.. months from now.