...kind of like "Rook" in the video title.

@@mikebaker2436 Bad patzer, bad.

When I came to this site I wanted to start at the most basic level and figured the beginner kids level would be as basic as these things go and serve at least somewhat to bridge the big gap that we have in chess instruction. For the most part we go from here's how the pieces move to can you find the brilliant combination that Tal found but his grandmaster opponent missed? Meanwhile much of the audience, the novices trying to get better, are still stuck at how do I not hang my pieces, let alone sidestep simple tactics. Teaching people how to not play like a fool should come before how to play like a grandmaster. This section would have been so much better had they added in analysis of games that these beginner kids play and especially the many blunders that they make. Much of this stuff is intermediate level actually, and being an intermediate player I have really enjoyed some of them but I definitely feel that the actual beginners or novices have been thrown under the bus, where they are still losing by blundering and winning by their opponents blundering, not from finding master level combinations and leveraging master level positional understanding. Recognizing blunders on both sides of the board is what will get them to the intermediate level but we need to at least try to teach this well enough.

To expand on this a bit, I actually watched all of these videos so far, even the ones which are actually for beginner kids, like who knows where the H3 square is, and as painful as this was at times, I usually found something to take away. In one of the first ones I remember Yasser telling the kids you need to pay as much attention to your opponent's moves as you do your own moves and I thought this is the best thing you could tell them and what they need to improve most. At the lower skill levels, under 1600 for sure, and even beyond that to some degree, it's actually even more important to pay attention to what your opponent is doing and you could even sit back and watch for weaknesses and inaccuracies with your opponent and look to capitalize, and you could consistently beat lower level opponents simply by just doing that. Strong players intuitively do this but lower rated ones tend to focus way too much on the way their moves change the position and not near enough on how their opponent's moves change it. We do need to do both but especially look for weaknesses on the other side of the board, and when we can do both well we are on our way to being a good chess player.

Marcus W Because they're interested in talking as well as in chess.

I think you misunderstood my comment. I know they like to talk. I have a hard time with my students being quiet. Ben just said it without even looking at them. I found it amusing.

@@marcusw3996 If you watch enough Finegold you find that this power is inconsistent at best.

@@marcusw3996 SHH!!!

ahahhahaha I almost die remembering that moment, in case you didnt listen i he said overworked....

Michał Ciasnocha no its the overworked GM

The rotating one :P

RockinOtaku

You cant say that. Terrible. He is my favorite KZfaq'er.

Lee Chang no, you misunderstood the title. These are not "rook, pawn" endgames, they are "rook pawn" endgames, or in other words "a/h pawn" endgames

Dona*** **censored** screw you Ben Simon.

Don't blame Ben Simon, blame Rex Sinquefield, who owns the club and supports Trump and is telling Ben Simon to cut out all the Trump jokes.

Not wrong

Majora1988 no talking!

KZfaq videos are edited down alot

It was actually an hour but all his jabs at Trump had to be edited out lol

Terrible!

Is it TheFinegold27?!

Found it, he runs the twitter page of Chess Club & Scholastic Center of Atlanta: @CCSCSATL

and facebook???

and OR facebook

If a player has no legal move left, it means he has succeeded in keeping his King safe. That's why he gets some credit.

finding a stalemate is fking genius at times. u gotta reward genius... and if the other player somehow manages to fuck up a free win, then they deserve to get a draw.