GM Ben Finegold's Most Important Rules in Blitz

[@ryanlind5239]

Ben doesnt understand that it takes 30 seconds to determine if you’re hanging a piece, and then after thinking for 30 seconds you hang your queen.

[@andrewptob]

Stop watching my games 🙈

[@dariolazza559]

I totally agree with GM Ben. It takes me a lot of time to realize even simple things and therefore I only play longer time formats.

[@mathematicsreadinggroup7288]

Ben does understand this. He's talked separately about seeing things, and how low rated players don't see stuff. The way you see stuff is by counting legal moves. This really opened my eyes. I'm 1700 FIDE and after hearing this, it still helped me. If I'm playing slow chess, and I can't figure out what to do, I literally just count all the legal moves, and then this forces me to consider them and I often find things I wouldn't have. It helps in Blitz too e.g. finding the best way out of check.

[@zanti4132]

Agreed. Ben says play fast and don't hang pieces, which is impossible for mere mortals. Grandmasters can do it because chess is hardwired into their DNA.

[@ryleighrage]

The accuracy

[@Princesspony252]

Giving away all his pieces and then checkmating with knight and bishop is an insane flex.

[@Thepurplepotatocat]

It is a flex, but it isn't like there are any gms who couldn't do this...

[@c4b-bage]

@@Thepurplepotatocat According to GM Finegold himself, he knew strong players (maybe not GMs but maybe FMs or IMs) who didn't know how to. I don't think it has much practical use either besides styling on 1200s online.

[@Mukki.Berlin]

@@Thepurplepotatocat There was once a WGM in a tournament who couldn't do it and it ended in a draw....but yeah, most good GMs know their B+N endgame.

[@Thepurplepotatocat]

@@Mukki.Berlin yeah I remember that. I'll restate what I said. Any REAL GM (no prefix) knows how to N&B checkmate...

[@Thepurplepotatocat]

@@c4b-bage yeah I'd believe it, but it's like a musician knowing a standard. It's sorta expecting that you should know it if you're a professional. Especially one whose been teaching chess for 20+ years...

[@hugeboi3669]

Always hilarious when Ben is insulting us and then the guy he’s playing immediately proves him right

[@IsaacBenevides]

And then you remember his voice roasting you during games and actually learn something and improve. Feelsgood after all

[@joeymurdazalotmore6355]

As he hangs his queen and the misses it makes it better er

[@smrtfasizmu6161]

Just as he says you can't go queen there and blunder your queen his opponent actually plays that exact queen blunder.

[@liammccollum2133]

"I'm talking non-stop and not paying attention" and misses the free queen. 2:25

[@ludwiganimations1513]

That's the joke

[@behavior2836]

he mentions that

[@leandro8897]

hahahaha it's so funny

[@dashyz3293]

3:37 it was in this position, Ben Finegold won the Hikaru Nakamura Sportsmanship Award.

[@frederikpeters7353]

@J W what?

[@weskingston264]

@@frederikpeters7353 Ben's opponent was hopelessly lost. Down on material and time against a GM. Most people would resign A) out of principle/respect, and B) to move on to the next game quicker and not waste time. That being said, if I was ever playing a GM and made a blunder I'd almost always play on because A) it's relatively rare to get to play someone of such a high rating, and B) even though I know I've lost the game already (lost even before the first move), I'd like to have a full game to look at and review/try to learn from. So I can honestly say I see both sides.

[@tellahsage6477]

@J W It's ironic for you to say that since Ben is the very GM that's known for teaching his students to never resign. He didn't do an underpromotion mate out of spite like some child, guy probably just wanted to give the game a nice ending for his viewers to enjoy.

[@pauldraper1736]

Ah, okay you're gonna make three queens? Oh, I guess you're gonna get every type of piece. Oh, you're going to checkmate with knight and bishop. Next level trolling right here.

[@KrisMeister]

That's why he's Ben Finegold and you're not.

[@pepega3344]

I do that too when opponents won't resign. I successfully mate most of the time

[@zaka9862]

I'm not a grandmaster or even very good but having too many queens can result in accidental draws, especially during something like Blitz

[@eVieww]

@@zaka9862 possible, but if u just check on every move there’s 0 risk of a draw

[@tellahsage6477]

@@zaka9862 This is why in fast games (or severe time trouble) it's always better to make two rooks instead of queens when you have a bunch of pawns. Zero risk of failure or accidental draw with the ladder mate.

[@roippi3985]

31 moves in the b+n mate sequence, if you were wondering how close to 50 Ben got

[@Gingnose]

Very efficient technique it was

[@duconmicro4331]

What a great lesson ! 1 - Don't play slow. 2 - Don't blunder pieces. That's fantastic, do you offer personal lessons ? What's your rate ?

[@miguelisaurusbruh1158]

if you are homeless just buy a house

[@tiisetsokekana5852]

If you are hungry, food is the best option to go for IMO

[@painless4785]

Depressed? Cheer up!

[@greennin]

it actually is good advice. At first you can just start playing fast, even if you do mess up some moves. Then worry about 2. Don't blunder pieces. I don't think this advice is meant to work overnight.

[@0biwan7]

so when he took the opponent queen with his queen instead of his knight, he didnt break his two rules?

[@ncwadv1922]

Secret of chess is to play like you never want the game to end.

[@Wibgloria]

What do you mean lol

[@Preetzole]

Lambdadelta be like

[@CharcoalBlasterdog]

@@Wibgloria it means you dont play crazy, play conservatively and let your opponent do crazy things and make mistakes

[@leithold315]

This worked for me! Got to 1650, then dropped to 1500 when i stopped doing it, lol 😂

[@Dirtxbc]

@@leithold315 not a big loss. You're good

[@jacobhall6741]

Lol, did Ben reach the premove limit? I didn't know such a thing existed

[@ancientmoron5997]

My personal most important rule in blitz, (and this one Never failed me so far) don’t play Blitz

[@boba7709]

good rule, I should adopt it

[@chrisshaw380]

Stupid rule

[@synchronium24]

I wish I took your advice. I play blitz like it's rapid, get a bunch of much better or winning positions, and lose on time. That's why my rapid rating is over 200 points higher.

[@georgecostantin8787]

Yes I just started with with just year ago and after 5000+ blitz games I decide its enough, my ELO rating was 1100, then I started playing 15+10, and I did not stop winning until 1400 ELO. Blitz its just bad for beginners in chess. Like Ian Nepomniachtchi says in Norway open when asked what he think about blitz tiebreaks, he reponds nothing, its waste of time:)

[@tomdavies3680]

@@synchronium24 my blitz is 500 lower, literally suck so much under time pressure

[@smort123]

Chess, when played perfectly, ends in sacrificing all your pieces except two pawns and check mating your opponent with a bishop and a knight.

[@liilianalopez1155]

as someone who is currently struggling with knight and bishop mates, this is absolutely savage. Such cool, calm restraint. I love it

[@jonathanmichel2635]

I can't belive he promoted and sacked into the hardest mating combo there is and then pre moved the ending.

[@skycaptain95]

The hardest checkmate combo is three knights.

[@exoplanet11]

Wow, that was pretty epic when Ben threw away all his pieces but B & N to give himself the hardest possible endgame.

[@Makingnewnamesisdumb]

Sweet checkmate in 95, bruh.

[@alexfrasca673]

i immediately followed the advice in this video and won a game by just moving around forever. thanks GM ben!

[@andersaskjrgensen5468]

Quality chess!

[@z.mauricio9821]

By far the coolest chess video I have seen on youtube. Thats "playing with your meal"... Crowning bishop knight queen for giving up queen and rooks and mating knight and bishop... Respect !!!

[@askthepizzaguy]

Doesn't resign against a GM despite having blundered a piece, then the GM doesn't go for checkmate and deliberately does a knight and beeeeeshop checkmate. Neither side wanted the game to end. 1. Never resign 2. Never checkmate, either.

[@Insanity-vv9nn]

Dont forget the most important rule in blitz: “never resign, even if the opponent have 50000 queens, because peaple above 1400 rating Will always give you draw”

[@jacebeefer]

Love the knight bishop mate at the end! Surprised he kept playing as long as he did.

[@asumazilla]

It made great content.

[@EliasMheart]

Me too, at the end Ben had over a minute advantage ^^

[@weskingston264]

@@EliasMheart I mean, if I was playing a highly rated chess streamer part of the fun is getting whooped. I've seen Ben, the Chess Brahs, and Eric Rosen make some really cool and interesting mates. Those wouldn't have happened if the opponent resigned at the first mistake.

[@XcutAngel]

very nice of him to give back all the pieces he got for free.

[@FireFlieX]

"Don't drop your pieces" bro, I'm terrible at chess, if I could not drop my pieces, I wouldn't be terrible.

[@fergalbyrne175]

Most disrespectful checkmate I've ever seen lol

[@The_Scouts_Code]

GM Ben Finetrolled.

[@Evilanious]

Ben demonstrating his flawless technique.

[@bruce000000070000000]

He had a free queen and he just did the exchange lol

[@hunterwashere6242]

Ben may be old but he's technique is gold, very Finegold

[@felipepa5693]

So when your opponent make a mistake u make a mistake too, that's genius

[@felipepa5693]

@Jacob Thompson bro I said the other guy's idea was genius, but it seems like he edited hid comment

[@ayushkumar7448]

@Jacob Thompson lol

[@dalu7612]

the last part was so impressive IT BLOWED UP MY PANTS

[@PkGam]

When I move fast in blitz: Make a lot of blunders. When I move slower to think: Better moves but runs out of time. My only hope: Try and win in as few moves as possible because less good moves uses less time. The typical result: Doom.

[@sergioaguis]

Damn! Ben made this match one of the best blitz I've seen lmao.

[@soakedbearrd]

“As long as your don’t play as a bad player you are fine.”

[@jamesroberts1964]

Omg the pre moves! The Nate with knight and bishop. You are a bad, bad man.👏👏👏👏

[@MUSIQUE_2019]

2:29 Take that queen... WITH YOUR KNIGHT!!

[@tctrainconstruct2592]

i love how "i'm not paying attention" is directly chained to not taking a hanging queen

[@radscorpion8]

that's how I play in 1+0 chess. Its filthy, its dumb, but the goal is to flag your opponent like a neanderthal (which means, its not chess anymore). Someone 2200+ even challenged me to hyperbullet atomic. I literally made a bunch of random moves, and I won

[@TalsBadKidney]

actually a huge endgame flex

[@penknight8532]

I mean are there any grandmasters in chess who can't mate with bishop/knight/king vs king?

[@456dave7]

Yesterday I was losing winning positions, today I realized I suck at blitz, Ben is reading my mind

[@roycohen.]

ok, so move really fast, never blunder and then win. got it.. ok.. I'm gonna try it now

[@adarsh5870]

I was 1300 and one habit I had was to immediately capture pawns or pieces, like I had the urge to capture, I controlled that and started finding in between moves, it definetly improved my game now I am 1770, hope to reach 2000 by year end.

[@vincentfrimpong4665]

If you don't mind me asking how long did it take for u to get from 1300 to 1700 on 1100 myself relatively new and trying have a good estimate on how long it should take me to get higher

[@meowcat5596]

@@vincentfrimpong4665 you can't, you'll never get better

[@aluminiumknight4038]

@@vincentfrimpong4665 a year at least

[@aluminiumknight4038]

@@meowcat5596 talk about yourself

[@justdavelewis]

2:30 lol I don’t think Ben was paying attention at all and automatically traded queens instead of taking it with the knight Unless I’ve just missed something but I don’t think so in this case

[@justdavelewis]

Lol yeah he caught it 10 seconds later 🤣

[@12jswilson]

@@justdavelewis I saw the same thing. Ben: *talks about low rated players hanging their queen* Low rated player: *hangs queen* Ben: *surprised Pikachu*

[@weskingston264]

@@12jswilson TBF, he wasn't exactly laser focused on the game (chatting/giving instruction while playing), and immediately recognized what happened and admitted he just didn't expect that move. If I had done the same thing while giving 100% effort I almost certainly wouldn't have even noticed until analyzing the game afterwards. 🤣

[@ribbonsofnight]

It is absolutely true that is why I'd be bad at blitz. The problem is that it's not too difficult to do either 1 of those things. I can not hang pieces (most of the time; if I play slow) I can play fast (or at least I could train myself to play fast; but then I would hang pieces)

[@gabo3color]

whats ur rating in rapid?

[@mythical_mario]

1:40 was pretty epic, the perfect moment for a blunder :D

[@PhilipPlaysGames]

Why in the world did he gave up all his pieces and checkmate with only a bishop and knight??

[@bofadz]

the knight and bishop checkmate was beautiful

[@ryleighrage]

Thanks for this! I needed it, considering the gap between my rapid and blitz rating is as large as the gap between the rich and poor in America. Thanks for helping me close that gap 😊

[@yukari_katsuragi]

oh yeah play good moves quickly wonder why i didn't think of that

[@gm2407]

It was at this point I accepted, I am a random blunder generator.

[@daemonsoadfan]

lmao the best mate at the end :)

[@cjh-bk4pn]

I mean doesn't hanging pieces stem from not thinking enough? So if they make moves faster they'll hang more pieces.

[@gabrielfonseca1642]

No, usually when people are thinking for a long time they are trying to see some complicated line rather than actually doing a blunder check

[@cjh-bk4pn]

@@gabrielfonseca1642 ah true. I've done that myself where I just end up hanging a piece after trying to come up with an attack.

[@gabrielfonseca1642]

@@cjh-bk4pn same. Usually I have a plan in my head and dont realise my opponent also saw it and prevented it

[@winrar42]

2:30 he didn't even take with the knight, lol literally not caring

[@GreenHope42]

Another gem 💎 from Ben, one of my favourite chess content creators ❤️ has great advice 🤔 & has fun playing chess 🥳

[@Gabe79999]

"You can't trap your own bishop." Absolutely serpentine advice.

[@thebcwonder4850]

Stockfish: observe

[@relaxingsounds2570]

Thats on point when I am playing 3 min I feel like I just move and think in between, not to waste time. I like slower blitz 5 min plus some increment so I cant think little when needed.

[@antoniomura1458]

Instructions unclear: I just move quickly now and I blunder all my pieces

[@casuallybad]

Bold of Ben to assume people are thinking. That's the first step to have a bad idea.

[@iainbozfelt]

That was so brilliant it almost makes me want to give up chess, I'll wait 20 years before deciding...

[@duncanglen3452]

That checkmate . I mean wow . To actually know all that from before is impressive and the reason I'll never be anywhere near as good as I'd like to be

[@DasScavorino]

😂😂😂 first video I’ve watched by you and you more laughs out of me that some shows I watch

[@nuagor]

2:29 why trade the queens when you can just win a queen? (Nxb4)

[@ChessMusclesBro]

That mate was dirty

[@noname-tl5fv]

2:27 couldve took with the knight why did you give your queen?

[@Nobody-df4is]

4:19 Wait, what? The dream. Why do all my opponents resign before I can even reach these kind of positions? What is the psychology behind this?

[@joshsblee]

Wow the knight and bishop mate... awesome!

[@LevelofClarity]

This is brilliant advice. Seriously. It is.

[@grimny13]

Awesome mate

[@lostsoul2184]

Ben be honestly playin a totally different game at this point

[@shaunhowe380]

The other guy was doing the 1200-1400 rating climb and live-streaming it!

[@RealYRM]

I love that Ben purposely blundered down to a bishop and knight in a blitz game just to practice the bishop+knight mate. Ben, I feel like you don't berate your audience enough in these videos, there's some dead air where you don't talk about us doing stupid things, hanging pieces, taking too long to move, giving up Mate-in-One, etc. My self esteem starts creeping back up during these lulls.

[@rafaelrafaelrafael]

Oh wait! I thought you had to sacrifice your pieces. I think I got some things mixed up.

[@DonaldSjervenE]

Ben pre-moves the bishops & knight mate while I'm eating fries.

[@amirb.2287]

why isn't Nxb4 possible at 2:26 tho?

[@Krell54]

Knight and bishop mate is worth learning.

[@Albrecht87]

Giving away 2 rooks and a queen only to checkmate with a night and a bishop. Absolutely brutal.

[@mdblida7980]

2:28 i love it

[@THN--ue2yn]

3:00 Can someone explain to me how he moved the pawn 5 squares in 1 move (I'm a bit stupid).

[@vincentduhamel7037]

It's called pre-programming moves. If you move during your opponent's turn, the computer records it as your next move. Not sure how many moves you can pre-program in a row.

[@bookle5829]

My dude tries to find a way to think and go with knight and bishop checkmate lmao

[@kytong954]

Best chess streamer there ever has been and ever will be

[@exelmans8855]

Facts.

[@michael2244]

3:43 😂😂😂

[@lorefox201]

wow thank you for showing how to checkmate with knight and bishop

[@IsimplyWill]

I dunno, maybe I got the wrong message here, but I went for massive disrespect and ended up making my opponent rage because I was trying to back rank my self in own castle. Thanks Ben!

[@joedorben3504]

2:27 Did Ben just take that queen with his queen and not his knight???

[@wee_pizza]

2:26 lmao trade all the pieces, my man just hung his queen but ben just traded them instead

[@JonathanXI]

100,000 milestone reached I see!

[@tropianhs]

Did he miss at 2:38 Kxb4 instead of exchaning Queens?

[@OldManSilencer]

It sounds like the actual advice for low rated players for blitz is to not play blitz until you're better and quickly processing the board so that you don't have to think to not hang a piece.

[@weskingston264]

Enh...I mean, once you know opening principles and have some sense of where your pieces want to be it shouldn't be too hard to avoid OBVIOUS blunders. Just doing a quick double check of 'I have x pieces defending that square and they have x pieces attacking that square' is probably sufficient. Having a good sense of potential threats/tactics comes in time and is more advanced for sure, but in a 3 minute game just avoiding giving pawns/pieces away for nothing is super important. I remember someone giving blitz advice (maybe John Bartholomew?) saying you should try to spend less than 10 seconds on each move. 10 seconds should be enough time to avoid the worst mistakes. Of course, I say this and every time I try to play Blitz I just straight up panic the whole game. 🤣

[@dalriada]

Always finish with a knight bishop checkmate when you have at least a minute left on the clock ⏰

[@BobbyRunout]

I think not blundering is good enough for most classical games too, not just blitz

[@borismolchanov8132]

2:26 why not take with the knight .. hmm really not paying attention

[@againsthegrainx7556]

“I probably should have played knight takes queen”

[@PAPPADASH]

I ask my opponents this all the time when I'm crushing "Why you so bad?" When they hang queens I say "Is that BOOK???" I include trash talk to get my opponents upset and off their game, they will also resign earlier. If chess wanted to get eyeballs on it, and get money and sponsors they need to drop dress codes and allow trash talk during the game. It would make chess a much better spectator sport.

[@phenakismos]

If you buy a Finegold-Blindfold you will magically know the coordinates and also be good at blindfold chess

[@weskingston264]

All told, where I can find a Finegold blindfold? I once saw a sign and got bold, but when I checked they were all sold.

[@shaunhowe380]

How many rating points did you get for that win?

[@ovinthagunathilaka320]

How did you do that?

[@nacho__063]

How do you premove several moves? I can only do one at a time 🤔

[@Tonyplat98]

Ben, Why am I so bad at chess?

[@DawnEnergy]

2:25 WTF he hangs his queen ¿does above 2000 elo blitz becomes the twilight zone or something?

[@andrewirish7720]

it's easy to play fast. it's possible to not give pieces away. it's very difficult to play fast AND not give pieces away.

[@Mdchessbro]

Thank you gm

[@ligmamale4389]

Brutal

[@ne0romantic]

I play as fast as Ben and don't hang pieces very often and still haven't much passed 2200 and when I did that that was hard.