King's Gambit Opening Lecture by GM Ben Finegold

[@shan8215]

Thanks finegold you helped increase my rating over the time I been watching you by 5. I used to be 800 and now I’m 805. Whole 5 was because of you !

[@adomaskuzinas2137]

Good job mate :D

[@thestonecold96]

If you donate on ben’s stream you might even move to 806!

[@shan8215]

@@thestonecold96 I have heard donations help :D

[@leadnitrate2194]

@@shan8215 the more you donate, the more money Ben has

[@sakuragi_hanamichi3263]

This is not possible because at your level you don't gain or lose 5 points for games

[@werderlebenslang4576]

I'm so happy that the lectures are back. GM Finegold's the GOAT.

[@pschneider1968]

Yes Sir, he is!

[@sanelprtenjaca9147]

Agree. I adore him, he make my day much more enjoyable.

[@lostimpanis]

YESSS

[@ichhabahnung]

I love these videos

[@anosmianAcrimony]

It's true, you know

[@pseudocoder78]

I just want to say, I told at least 4 of my coworkers today, "trying is the first step to failure". Thanks Ben, for helping me inspire in the workplace.

[@AG-ld6rv]

Well, you might want to watch some Simpsons where it originally came from.

[@bernie4366]

This video is typical of every Finegold video I watch. I didn't learn much about specific lines in the King's Gambit, but I spent an hour being thoroughly entertained and immersed in chess culture and history. Well worth the time spent.

[@scottscheule]

Can’t overstate how much I enjoy your lectures.

[@SelfReflective]

Can't overstate how much I hate calling games between Rufus and Doofus as "immortal".

[@adomaskuzinas2137]

Time for netflix to put out a brand new show titled "King's Gambit", picturing the meteoric decline of a white male grandmaster, battling his urges to be vegan and only drink Perrier. Will they do it? The answer is fries.

[@VWabhijit]

Only true finegold fans will get this!

[@brssnj54]

Wow, truth hurts

[@Takrezz]

Just a terrible idea... terrible!

[@HughMorristheJoker]

Very suspicious

[@thomas6837]

This is one extremely funny comment.

[@benjaminsmythe8967]

That jazz-piano opening soothes my soul knowing what's to come.

[@adomaskuzinas2137]

Pure class!

[@mattrogersftw]

Truth hurts

[@Tx66]

I do miss the previous jazz solo though

[@Tasmanaut]

bumpbadumbadum ba!

[@anothercomputerguy]

"Gotcha, bitch." -Adolf Anderssen, 1851

[@sobaranski]

I’m gonna start quoting that 😂

[@richardsimon4135]

"This is considered to be the greatest game of all time .... by people who aren't very good." 🤣🤣🤣 This is why I watch Ben.

[@Princesspony252]

Thank god you're doing more of these videos, I was very worried you weren't after the chess center closed.

[@honeychurchgipsy6]

@Professorfart (great name by the way) I didn't know the chess centre had closed - so no more listening to Ben making jokes at the expense of small children anymore - shame - lol!!

[@akorthouwer]

Why did it close tho

[@ChaBoiNeil]

I thought they sold it to someone else.

[@gabeop9615]

​@@akorthouwera pawn moved forward? 😂😂😂

[@jfryer485]

@@akorthouwer Probably the long arm of man made Covid?

[@sorpresasfelicidad8314]

GM Finegold is an example of determination, how he stoically faces life. No need for a physical chess center, the whole internet is your chess center and we are all your students. A true chess center comes from the heart! God bless.

[@SelfReflective]

"McDonnell. M-C-D-O-N-N-E-L-L I heard he had a farm. And on that farm, he played the King's Gambit!" - so silly, but it made me laugh.

[@johnz6977]

Ben has no idea some random guy often falls asleep at night to the sweet / calming sounds of Ben’s lectures. Truth hurts.

[@sameash3153]

Me rn

[@davido4263]

Me too 😴😴🌜

[@at7915]

Me but can't fall asleep because too interesting

[@ClassicPass_]

Finegold doing the Kings Gambit!? Yes please!

[@joeybradshaw7109]

I play kings gambit in blitz and worked up to 1900... when I am in a heated game not down at least a piece or 2, I am saying to myself "hell yeah"

[@nsiderultimaseth]

This was a great lecture. I do wish we had seen some more recent games, but it IS the King's Gambit so...

[@raphaelhudson]

There are plenty of recent games. He just chose some of the most famous. For some recent notable super GM wins as white you could look at - see Ivanchuk v Peter Leko 2020, Ivanchuck v Giri 2013, Ivanchuk v Ding Liren 2016, Nepomniatchi v Firouzjja 2021, there were a number of notable draws in the london chess classic too a few years before that. Nepomniatchi has an expensive course on chessable on the kings gambit where he looks at more of his games. But the analysis is not helpful for beginners. If you want someone modern who played it as a main weapon Alexei Fedorov played it against every super GM under the sun from the 90s to about 2004, his last game was a draw against Carlsen. Carlsen himself has played it sometimes but his last notable game in a tournament he played some crazy line where the king goes to E2 and lost to Ding Liren. Simon Williams has a number of courses on it too, and I honestly find Simon's analysis to be more helpful than nepo.

[@OmneAurumNon]

I'm so glad these lectures are back :)

[@951genni]

"McDonnell hard a farm, and on that farm, they played the Kings Gambit" I died.

[@Tx66]

Ben, you are an outstanding teacher. I thoroughly enjoy your lectures (and so does everyone here apparently)!

[@devinmoran59]

Thank you do a part 2. Why not, this was great

[@dannygjk]

10 moves into the King's Gambit: GM: I have no idea what's going on. Class player: I got this.

[@dashyz3293]

55:32 I analysed this with SF14 NNUE, and it said LaBourdannais played literally perfect except for 2.f4 and 5.Nc3, which were still book(for our time).

[@JoeyVictory]

Lectures are back!

[@tyrano1982]

I was searching for info on king's gambit, thanks a lot I love your videos!

[@matthewgalicia1101]

Ben sort of yelling the whole time is hilarious lol. Thanks for the lesson!

[@hvitekristesdod]

Still the most entertaining chess commentator out there!!

[@ethereal3679]

Thank you so much for the opening lecture, Benedict Goldstein! This really helped me increase my rating.

[@Mr5022840]

Always look forward to your lectures ben.... excellent teacher

[@tennisjiujitsu]

You got me into chess again Grand Master Ben! Thank you!

[@Royalchess1]

GM Finegold, At 17" into your lecture/dissertation I've decided you are VERY listenable. What a bargain! Of course, this lecture is the first such that I've chosen to listen to, and I've listened to a few such presentations, and I'm adding this to my file of KING'S GAMBIT presentations. Actually, I'm creating a playlist of such topics for resources for the trilogy of the history of chess that I'm writing.

[@wwcj0000]

Ahh yeah! time to go blunder a few 5+3 with the Kings gambit. (really enjoyed this GM Finegold)

[@YDeLaFayette]

Thanks Ben for the lecture on one of my favorite openings. I would like to see you analyze a game where black wins though. To make a suggestion: Carlsen - Ding Liren comes to mind. That to me is the closest thing to Fischer's famous quote "it loses by force", but I have no idea what's so lost by default about being down a pawn. So I hope that's somehting you could explain in a follow-up lecture, or even a short video. Thanks for all the great content from Europe

[@adamanonymous6885]

I know you want more detail than this, and I would agree it would be helpful to hear a full explanation from a GM level player, but broadly speaking, the issue with being down a pawn is that if the rest of the game proceeds with even trades, eventually you are most likely lost by force (with a few rare cases being a draw). This means that being down a pawn is essentially a ticking clock on your chances to win the game. You HAVE to either reclaim an equal standing by winning the pawn back, or win the game before all the pieces come off.

[@jonjones5092]

@@adamanonymous6885 It's not rare at all for a pawn down draw, 1 pawn can often stop 2 and one minor piece vs piece and pawn is also frequently a draw. Trading down past a certain point kills the advantage.

[@ryankelly5038]

King's Gambit is perfect for a pub/bar name

[@barranquillarespondetv2512]

As well as Great cocktail name

[@scottscheule]

King’s Gimlet perhaps?

[@ukdirector85]

As always fascinating insider knowledge, and promoting awareness of great players of the past

[@mi.tsiklauri]

The best chess teacher on his chair! ❤️

[@danielcrase]

These are so timeless.

[@loganmyall660]

I really, really like 10 minute chess. The clock is an absolute weapon. I find myself winning games with far less time than my opponent left, and usually when I lose I have more time.

[@fingerprince_]

Great stuff, glad the lectures are continuing despite the club closing. Much prefer proper lectures to streams crowded by Twitch chat (terrible)

[@madhavsanap6690]

Club closed ? Why ?

[@robertomariani626]

@@madhavsanap6690 With covid around it was costing too much to maintain it, they were actually losing money from it

[@trent797]

So glad these lectures are back!

[@AC-sk7uv]

18:28 "he literally doesn't care" chat, he doesn't care. no, chat, no..no like literally he doesn't care. Love the subtle Hikaru reference!!

[@ALCATRAAAZZ]

Thank you for the advice, will prepare this for my OTB games

[@thelastgame74]

How it goes?? I'm thinking of Playing this in an otb tornament with long time control

[@ALCATRAAAZZ]

@@thelastgame74have not had a chance

[@thelastgame74]

@@ALCATRAAAZZ so should I play it?

[@ALCATRAAAZZ]

Definitely!

[@MajinRixch]

"So he played Ng8... obviously setting up for the next game"

[@jacopopiccirillo]

hey Ben just wanted to say thank you. If I know how to play chess "decently" is 90% merit of your lessons. Thank you!

[@Dessan01]

The b5 move in the Anderssen / Kieseritsky game is known as “Bryan’s Counter-Gambit” or at least that’s what I’ve known it by for the last 30 years.

[@alfredMonty]

10:43 "and Ke2 gets mated probably or worse" 😆

[@justchessminiatures1167]

What the devil possessed me to reply 1. ... e5?? I compltely forgot that Spassky, like Spielmann in the past, very much likes to play the King's Gambit. --David Bronstein

[@Hyppotalamus]

I always learn so much watching these lectures. Now if i only could apply this knowledge in game i wouldnt suck so much.

[@adomaskuzinas2137]

Thats the hard part, seems so easy when it's explained well like this, much harder to apply in own games though!

[@caiosilva8202]

This is way passive learning is not good in chess, want to learn and apply on your games? So you got do your own work

[@dreamshakejake3736]

Cool how he took the time at the end to answer that dudes question. Go Ben!

[@scottieb6442]

Ben’s such a chill dude

[@jordanmcmorris5248]

This was one of the first chess lessons I ever watched

[@bogdanpancencu9709]

Happy for comeback, Sir ! Love You !

[@kristianfagerstrom7011]

I would love to see a King's gambit at the 2750+ level, sadly I don't think I ever will.

[@cristianandrei5462]

I think hikaru played it otb, if I remember correctly he played the variation where he sacs the knight on f3.

[@dwaynekeenum1916]

Judit polgar kinda

[@thesnackbandit]

"Trying is the first step to failure" So inspirational

[@thesnackbandit]

12:57

[@paulgoogol2652]

I just play the boring defense with d5. I used to win many games with the Fischer defense but I met players that just sacrifized pieces on f7 or f4 and they got a very strong attack approved by stockfish. So I looked at the crazy position and thought: yea, nope. I'd rather play the open sicilian, which I hate, or its short brother. Or even both and play some e6 sicilian which is just a little distinct french defense imo.

[@gentrysalmon6214]

This humor is fantastic, just what I need to keep intrested

[@VARMOT123]

both danya's and yours king's gambit lecture was posted on the same day

[@andsviat]

Smith-Morra is typically crazy (in 99.9% I play with white), so is the King's Gambit. Although the latter seem more difficult to play with white.

[@samuelfelton6158]

That first mate was filthy.

[@Eidenhoek]

19:05 Okay so that hurt, but like...it's such a *beautiful* game though. Anderssen and the romantic era just has some beautiful looking games!

[@SuperAWaC]

thanks to this lecture my rating went from 3 to 1. that means i am #1

[@jeffreyfisher3115]

Fischer published an article called “A Bust to the King’s Gambit” in 1961. Would’ve liked GM Feingold to have opined on that, maybe he has in some other video.

[@conradgonzalez1570]

Thank you for helping me GM Ben!!!

[@zakesters]

So, around 25:15, I was under the mistaken impression that white had 'mate in two with Nc7, so I was surprised when he pushed the e pawn. Going back to check, I then realized the knight defending e7 was the problem with my idea, so the checkmate eventually happening on e7 after removing that knight via a queen sacrifice was _incredibly_ gratifying to see.

[@andriyandriychuk]

The Kasparov Karpov variations video was so good

[@tomkinnally9656]

Morphy and Fischer play that Bishop C4

[@groovyhassle9934]

It’s always extemporaneous When you are good at something, it’s always extemporaneous

[@levite7]

At 52:35 (Spassky - Fischer) Bf6 also looks like a move, to possibly help with the overworked bishop, but also looses (it) after e.g. ...Qd6.

[@VWabhijit]

Ben Finegold's the best lecturer on the circuit.

[@nikkikristofer8183]

The best thing that ever happened to the King's Gambit is that it got a reputation for being trash. All I ever do is collect wins because nobody sees it, nobody knows how to play against it, and lots of people get into trouble after their theory runs out on move 4.

[@sameash3153]

Based!

[@lukacalov1988]

Fun fact: Boris Spassky never lost in Kings gambit

[@xilpes6254]

Well I have too

[@noahz]

Have been waiting for this lecture for a long time! Thank you 🙏

[@SeddincY]

27:28 "this was the first instance ever, of someone saying I got you bitch" Man, that line just go me down rolling on the floor laughing. Comedy and chess? What more could i ask for.

[@sourandbitter3062]

I feel like I should like the Evergreen game but I never did, I think it's a ridiculous game. Now the Opera mate game or the game of the century are classics I like.

[@sourandbitter3062]

@Michael Bobman Nice, I’ll look them up, thanks.

[@tellahsage6477]

That's not the Evergreen game tho

[@dimas2672]

Ok first time I say you on chess tv late night / it was ok - it’s different - now I’m convinced you are the best chess video dude. Strange

[@burningspirit7874]

im learning the kings gambit thats for sure

[@hunterxg]

Yeah my favorite opening

[@spidaman0112]

Headset. I think it's called clearly. They are blue tooth and last 12 plus hours

[@merluzacongelada5361]

Are the new lectures going to feature Grandmaster Ken West?

[@amSportsPicks]

oh man that "gotcha bitch" was funny

[@wesleythomas9131]

Go Ben!! Love your lectures!

[@propagandacritic5511]

Great music track at the beginning!

[@kantsus]

Thank you!

[@djrojas]

Whenever I face f4 on move 2, I know we are in for a brawl

[@williamstockdale9101]

Good explanation of the Botez gambit!

[@mychessnotebook8653]

I know the Novotny theme from Tim Krabbe's old site, Chess Curiosities.

[@mikestubbs1708]

Yes...interesting comment...but today we see Theme tournaments becoming very popular online, as well as Correspondence chess games, so people now have lots more time to study, refer to millions of GM database games, plus the use of top computer programs like Lichess, Stockfish, Fritz etc! Also, there are many more videos on KZbin which try to explain the meaning behind moves in variations!

[@pullt]

That shirt was certainly a choice.

[@carlosortega5130]

Finegolds under appreciated!!! And has best lectures... he really needs to go into comedy school and do stand up.

[@qqqmyes4509]

What is comedy school

[@kevinmarcus9205]

Love that guy's comment below! He improved his rating by five points to 805! I think I can beat that guy!

[@David-tm9wr]

Ben lectures on King's Gambit? Is this an early birthday gift?

[@Me-uv6kc]

I'm bad so I play the king's gambit every game if able, GO BEN

[@pepefrogic3034]

BENs lectures are the best!

[@VogueWave]

Great stuff man!

[@justchessminiatures1167]

18:24 that reference XD

[@fess04]

this is absolute gold!

[@gm2407]

King's Gambit. Well if I had to bet on where the games came from I would have said 18th century and Boris Spassky games. Not disappointed just would like to see more Kings Gambit in Super GM chess

[@gooddognigel9992]

Later in his career, after having written the article A Bust to the King’s Gambit, Super GM Bobby Fischer employed the King’s Gambit and won both games!

[@andriyandriychuk]

My fav chess blogger!

[@ahrrydepp493]

Man i love your lectures alot

[@drithligh]

*a lot

[@HeathenThrone]

@19:00 - hilarious.

[@poitevinpm]

These games are insane!

[@joeybashaw3909]

Good stuff, thanks!