Endgame Essentials Lecture by GM Ben Finegold

Check out Ben's Chessable courses here! www.chessable.... Filmed live on January 23, 2023. Thank you Chris Pope for sponsoring this lecture!
Ben looks at fragments of two of his past games along with other potential endgame positions!
32:09 Ben Finegold vs Robert Fischer, Charlotte 2022
53:22 Faris Gabbara vs Ben Finegold, Warren, 2003
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#benfinegold #chess #EndgameEssentials

[@tobiasbk8441]

Of all the chess players I’ve ever seen, Ben is one of them

[@SalivationNation]

Lol

[@Harryjay6]

Nailed it.

[@geniuschinez]

No shit

[@churchbeller]

Haha 👍

[@hans471]

Me too!!

[@depressivepumpkin7312]

I am fascinated how Ben remembers how every piece moves

[@anastasiacaron6631]

He listens to a lot of Bob Seger

[@bdpv025]

Suspicious

[@terrysouth7201]

@@anastasiacaron6631 well played :P

[@davidp.7620]

Even the horsey

[@LloydM-oh4uk]

This was well done... endgame theory can be a bit confusing when you are first starting out but ben nailed all the key points well so its easy to remember.

[@denissovm]

"try not to know anything, it's more fun that way" The best thing to say during a lecture

[@thehumanpractice2985]

I put my king in front of the pawn and got checkmated. Gotta remember do that on the endgame and not the opening though

[@RobsMiscellania]

I'd like to thank my favorite Pope, Christopher Pope, for sponsoring the lecture for us! He's a great Pope, one of the best.

[@CorneliuZeleaCodreanu9]

He s the only pope a jew would like😂

[@qqqmyes4509]

You sound like Donald trump

[@donsimons9810]

hey hey. Popes’ suck on a secular level and Trump would agree. Wow, terrible audience

[@thetransferaccount4586]

"If not possible.. do it anyway" that's one of the advices of all time

[@Poetically_Incorrect]

ben can be proud holder of the title "funniest grandmaster ever"

[@Stop_being_younger_than_me]

Him and Yasser are definitely the funniest.

[@thedamnmoron]

as ben finegold himself says, he's definitely funny looking.

[@SalivationNation]

@@thedamnmoron frankly ridiculous

[@duncanglen3452]

Funniest guy in his chair

[@sklikizos]

​@@duncanglen3452funniest Ben in his chair

[@Rwnds7967]

There is no one better at teaching chess than Ben is. I am watching this after being awake for more than 24 hours and I still understood the lesson! ..I might even retain some of it for use in games. But even if I don't it was still fun to watch. Best on YT easy. Thanks, Ben.

[@LloydM-oh4uk]

You can remember the positions... it gets hard when you have to see these endgames in advance and execute with seconds left on your clock

[@honestloz]

Love this Guy. Not only does he explain chess in a way so us mere mortals can understand it, but he does it with a smile on his face and has a great sense of humour 😂 He makes learning fun. Keep up the great work 👍

[@NumberJuanSpot]

28:02 An incredibly specific and situational chess joke 👨‍🍳👌 *chef’s kiss* Good stuff Ben

[@pschneider1968]

Getting better at endgames is key to getting better at chess. When Siegbert Tarrasch in 1910 wrote his famous book "The Game of Chess", he started it with several extensive chapters about technical and basic endgames. These chapters make up roughly one third of the whole book. That should tell you something. Thanks Ben for this great lecture on the basics, AGAIN!

[@howardgraff4084]

Comments without the word "should" get more likes. Just saying.

[@hans471]

@@howardgraff4084 then you are disqualified, just saying...

[@michaelkrailo5725]

I just bought that book and hope I can learn something from it. I'm just starting to learn the game and need all the help I can get.

[@pschneider1968]

@@michaelkrailo5725 It's a great book to start with!

[@jedinxf7]

​​@@hans471 a reference is not semantically or syntactically equivalent to its referent. the quoted word "should" is not even the same part of speech in that reply (or in this sentence, in which it is the subject and obviously a noun) as the word "should" when actually used by OP as a modal verb.

[@Hailmich10]

One of the very best teachers I have seen on youtube and there are many good ones, Ben explains endgame essentials in a non-boring way that makes you want to learn and hopefully understand. Thanks Ben!!

[@regnitteo]

I'm going to print this lecture and put in on my shelf. Highest quality content right there 🤓

[@carlosnavarrete7400]

Easily the most educational chess channel I’ve seen, you break the game down so it’s easy to understand.

[@dannyshaw4057]

When you watch Ben on Stream, you will always get good advice sprinkled in with the jokes - but when Ben sits down to teach, I really don't think there is anyone better; the first few examples in this video and then showing you WHY that is the case really made me think. I went through this vid in about 3 sessions, following the examples and the line of reasoning, and now I look at the pieces in a different way, and looking from when the first few pieces that come off how the end game might look.

[@f.d.3289]

24:19 Uhm, this I'd never thought a patzer like me would have to correct Ben, but this doesn't seem to be a draw. After 1...Rf2+ 2.Ke6 Kf8, White plays 3.Ra8+! forcing 3...Kg7, and after 4.Kd6 Rd2+ 5.Ke7 Black has no checks, the king has no chance to get in front of the pawn, and White will promote, with the white king using both the pawn and the black king as a shield from rook checks. The only move to keep the draw actually is 1...Re2!. I checked this with Stockfish and a tablebase.

[@andsviat]

One of coolest lectures ever.

[@andsviat]

Also, stalemate is BS. It should be a loss for the guy who gets stalemated.

[@colinmurphy2214]

@@andsviat it certainly doesn’t feel fair but it is

[@CodexPermutatio]

@@andsviat Stalemate means that you cannot capture your opponent king even with infinite time. In chess, it is illegal to move your king to a squared controlled by your opponent. So, the stalemated king is safe FOREVER and you have no right to think you've won.

[@rickdynes]

must say, Ben, this is just Brilliant; entertaining, insightful, comical, historical... And legit Poem Unlimited

[@nbeqo]

24:25 Mr. GM, this is the basic Philidor 2 pattern and Black draws with Re2. Rf2 check looses. The point of Re2 is that White cannot go Ke7 after 2. Ke6 Ra8 3. Kg7. Nothing wrong with using the engine to confirm your assessment man, told you before :)

[@sklikizos]

Within 10 minutes I'm understanding and extending concepts I thought I knew to a deeper level thanks to Ben's excellent example choices and explanation. This is a great lesson, thank you Ben.

[@stefanosias7422]

Absolutely best chess lecture I've ever seen and Ben is the perfect teacher - keeps everything understandable and relatable and sound... and funny! = Best education=edutainment.

[@rkalle66]

Ben, I like how you allways explain the difference between playing against a computer and against other players ... not to blunder or avoiding zugzwang. And I like your ability to recognize patterns ... wish I would have this myself.

[@fredgandolfi2356]

Very good lecture, and on point throughout. Thank you GM Ben and kind sponsor.

[@crichtonism]

It's called 'building a bridge' because the zigzag motion of the king down the board mimics the shape of a bridge truss.

[@georgehornsby2075]

No bishop endgames, hope Pope wasn't disappointed...

[@justsomeboyprobablydressed9579]

@18:15 Here's a stalemate trick (found with engine): 1.Kf2 Ka3 2.Ke2 Kh7 3.Kd2 Kg7 4.Kc2 Kh7 5.Kb2 Ra6 6.Kb3 Kg7 7.Kb4 Ra1 8.Kc5 Kf7 9.Rh8 Rxa7 10.Rh7+ Ke6 11.Rxa7 stalemate. This trick makes it difficult (impossible?) for the White king to walk in and win the f5-pawn. But many positions are probably still winning for White even if he gives up the a7-pawn.

[@Chessdrummer83]

Hi Ben, at 24:15 the correct and only way to draw is Re2 getting behind the pawn, and if white plays Ke6 then Kf8 is the drawing move, moving to the short side of the board. You would know this but maybe got the position mixed up there. Still thanks for a great lecture, love your work. Edit: I see a very similar position 54:04 and i still would keep the rook behind the pawn with Rf8 but the check on the g file is a draw here you're right. The only difference of the positions is one's a Bishop pawn and the other a center pawn!

[@thefrontiersman4388]

I was just about to write this comment, but I saw you already did this. Only other thing I can point out though is that in that particular position after Ke6, both Kf8 and Kd8 are drawing. It is only with e and d pawns that this is the case, as with c and f pawns the king has to go to the short side in those types of positions. A key difference to note for c and f pawns versus central pawns is that for c/f, the rook does not need to be behind the pawn, but can be on g1/b1 (analogously to the mistake ben made as you pointed out at 24:15, where he played Rf2+, in this position he would be playing Rg2+).

[@michaelkrailo5725]

This was extremely instructive for a relative beginner like me. I'm going to need a lot more training though.

[@coolclearfacts6105]

Thanks for posting this. It was an excellent refresher.

[@stevelavalette6898]

More videos like this one please it was very informative and helpful thank you

[@richardserlin1317]

Worth noting, at minute 56:50 what about trying f4-f3 for black? White can take the pawn, and black can't take back due to stalemate. Great video Ben.

[@galaxytractor]

Of all the Finegolds in the world, he's the Finegoldiest.

[@bjorngillefalk8965]

Great lecture! If I may make a small observation, at 17.40 after black's f5, white can play g6! and put black in zugzwang right away.

[@BMWE-hm7uz]

Glad i found this. Its very hard for me at least to explain these positions logically to a student as there is so many similarities but hugely different. Only just got into coaching tbh, like level 1 fide development coach but i can take something from this from a coaching standpoint

[@juleslondon3088]

That’s by far the most useful and interesting explanation of endgame essentials I’ve seen. Well done Ben! 🙂

[@AndersHPhotography]

It's always the top of line when Ben puts out the gosple. Both Chess and humor-wise, et cetera, mostly et cetera :D :D :D

[@AlSuChess]

Thank you Ben! This was a very informative video!

[@ChristopheThomas0]

amazing lesson - also as usual a lot of fun with Ben

[@ChessEvaluation]

I really thought I know alot about Endgame not until i saw this , this was amazing ang Gold Vid ❤❤❤.

[@Durian_Defense]

The lesson of this video is, if you want to sponsor a lesson, check your timezone and don't turn up for the Zoom call an hour late because Ben won't let you in. But thanks for the sponsorship anyway, that is, and always will be much appreciated.

[@bruceazumbrado5387]

Very good lecture!! I am going to "bookmark" this lecture and review it periodically.

[@sipkejorgmund753]

40:49 Kf3 where the K stands for knight! Looks like Kc3 would be trickier. Good lecture, I relearnt some stuff I forgot.

[@depressivepumpkin7312]

Ben really know his way around chessboard

[@filbertpicobrain]

Ha !! I had to wait through the entire lecture to hear you say "The truth hurts". The anticipation was killing me ! :-)

[@andrew_owens7680]

Ben, you look MARVELOUS. Good to see you again!

[@PrinceTiger-r8l]

Ben finegold played Robert (James) Fischer in 2022. Legendary!

[@JacobVanlunen]

Showed this to my 8yo and she got a lot out of it. Thanks!

[@Hananotaka]

“He can win my rook, but then I know how to mate with a queen.” 😂 Brutal.

[@Unstapables]

I think your new videos about lectures are so good, i am learning alot . I watched you in the past also , but new videos are way better. i dunno if its the style or what , but the content is captivating enough that 20-30 min pass in flash

[@Tx66]

This Fine rule with the King two squares in front of the pawn is worth its weight in Gold

[@jimgaal7356]

Assonance! Not only does it sound like an insult, it's actually correct!

[@MAGICBaNaNAz64]

The way Ben retold the last endgame position was hilarious

[@lastcraft]

24:20 Black should play Re2, not Rf2. ...Rf2+, Ke6 Kf8, Ra8+ Kg7, Kd6 Rd2+, Ke7 as the R on the a-file shortens the long side.

[@undencem]

Thanks to the sponsor and Finegold

[@mustafaadil6080]

Great lecture . Keep up the good work❤️

[@timt8027]

i had a situation sort of similar to the one in this vid around minute 9. I was black but i had more pawns. like 2 more but i wasnt able to break through with my pawns. My king was obviously tied down to the 2 spaces and my rook to defending the pawn in the corner. If i hadnt seen this video i would have tried to grab the pawn and lost. Luckily i watched this vid!

[@talstory]

would some chess site offer a 'play random endgame' feature so that we could play endgames against each other instead of whole games? 90% of my games end in middle game so I don't get much endgame practise

[@vvBoost]

Lichess puzzles. You can change the puzzle to suit your needs like "end game" puzzles

[@Chess_Improvement]

great endgame summary, thanks to sponsor and GM Finegold

[@justchessminiatures1167]

Go Ben. You are the best player on your chair.

[@mattbaker32]

Very helpful lecture. Good info in a concise and understandable way. Not surprising, but always welcome

[@JonatasXadrez]

"If there were no pawns, then every position is the same because the chess board is a perfect square" I swear to you Ben is the only person in the universe who could make me understand such nonsensical sentences. Jesus Christ I love this guy :D

[@bdpv025]

Very Instructive lecture! Go Ben! but stay there.

[@shanastroskyphazer8172]

GREAT chess lecture ! endgames are the same in chess 960 ! hahaha Go Ben !

[@csofarrell]

"and I like alliteration because, I dunno maybe I'm brain damaged" this made me laugh out loud

[@dneary]

18:00: After Kf3, isn't Ra4 still winning? The rook prevents the King from getting to the black pawn. Does that fail because the King can use the first 3 ranks to approach the rook?

[@Erik_001]

Looking forward to watching this. Thank you.

[@kenwah6637]

Thought I was watching this video for like 10 minutes and then it was the end of the video

[@andrewk6870]

These are some real gems. That whole mirroring techinicque (not sure what it's called) is awesome!

[@danbrooks5060]

he says it like a hundred times 😂 it's called "opposition"

[@andrewk6870]

@@danbrooks5060 I'm a 101 times guy I guess 🤣. Thanks for the clarification.

[@charlesdarwin180]

Nice demonstration. I didn't know this.

[@GreenHope42]

Ben is Endgame 🐐 Thanks for the great video 🥰

[@BrianStone0]

This is an outstanding lecture!

[@raiedfadhil6248]

Thank you, Ben.

[@MrSupernova111]

Nice lesson! Thanks!

[@jasonminturn311]

You look great in purple Ben. Also, very useful lecture. Thanks!

[@NatanoMai]

Just great, thank you Ben!

[@nickmeyer1030]

If you want to take one thing away from this lecture, it's, "Everything is always very complicated no matter how much you know." If you can't make peace with this, then chess is not the game for you. I struggle with it all the time.

[@sprcow]

In some ways, it's liberating to know that there's no way to study yourself out of complexity.

[@aanon4019]

that and "try not to know anything -- it's more fun that way" lol

[@justinfedenyszen7049]

Ben is definitely one of the teachers I’ve seen on KZbin. 😉

[@davidheath5429]

Reeaally good! Thank you.

[@charliepenguingaming]

I thought end games were boring, but I’ve been dying of laughter since the first position

[@robertobasile3311]

This is fine gold!

[@gossedejong9248]

thank you!!

[@ukymon]

thanks Ben

[@anubis_ghg9318]

I hope your King gets in front of the Pawn is my new pick up line

[@davidwagner6116]

Great examples!

[@MaxWright7]

Do chess programs know how to play the best moves in these endgames?

[@alexadshead2093]

So im stuck with position 3 (where you have the f-pawn and should win). What happens when your opponent checks repeatedly with their rook, you would then have no option but to hide your king on the g-file, at which point your pawn is pinned so you cant advance it like in the video?

[@flpsnk4848]

I like the Finegold rule, I liked the video. EDIT: I even disliked the video to like it again. That is how much I like this video.

[@miljantodorovic31]

At 57:30 I thought you were gonna be cute and play Rf1, which also wins and is much funnier than Rd2.

[@sasodiarvas]

Killer shirt, Ben!

[@patrickmagero436]

"And now he got too cute, he was cute before, he liked how cute he was, he said I'm pretty cute and here..." 56:44

[@itze_]

I've learned a lot from this

[@ChristopheThomas0]

Thanks

[@emineliyev9461]

Its dubai currency,so do you live in dubai?)

[@mercylessplayer]

Regharding the position at 17:43, stockfish claims it to be win. Unfortunately it is one piece too many for current tablebases afaik

[@stevenxu5747]

@GMBenjaminFinegold , how can you possibly talk through the entire game without even mentioning that the name of your opponent was "Robert Fischer"????

[@vincentvangogh8092]

cant you let them take g5 and stil play f5 im gonna check it out but i have a feeling it could win for white

[@midofattouh3810]

Great lecture as usual Can you suggest a good book for R endings ?

[@davidblack2970]

John Nunn's 'Secrets of Rook Endings'

[@maximilianwiedemann7022]

Do you have to Pay Extra for the Jokes or are they included?

[@pierQRzt180]

Thank you Chris Pope to sponsor a lecture for everyone and the Finegold team! (Terrible!)

[@XVRMEDIA]

Poor Chris Pope missed the lecture 😂😂😂

[@MrCaptainSpiff]

57:01 chess really is no joke😂😂