Great Game from Older Players: Lecture by GM Ben Finegold

GM Ben Finegold covers four separate games involving older players who still had some serious chess skills.
0:56 Vasily Smyslov vs Zoltán Ribli, Candidates 1983
18:28 James Tarjan vs Vladimir Kramnik, Isle of Man 2017
28:53 Fabiano Caruana vs Viktor Korchnoi, Gibraltar 2011
36:48 Nukhim Rashkovsky vs Anatoly Karpov, Ekaterinburg Blitz 2018
This lecture was recorded on January 17, 2024 in Roswell, Georgia. This video is sponsored in honor of Bill Olford.
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[@Rubrickety]

Tarjan's life story is even more amazing when you consider he was raised in the jungle by wild animals.

[@KeithDonovan-cd3eo]

😂😂😂😂

[@paulgoogol2652]

it's crazy how 7 years ago Kramnik played against an old man and now he is an old man.

[@jogzyg2036]

That's not crazy that's "interesting"

[@nilsp9426]

I guess you can always be a boomer if you choose to.

[@ofurhieraphael7633]

He's around late 40s nowhere near old

[@redskins973]

He’s not old in years, but he has the mind of an 80 year old

[@Highspade]

It sure is crazy to see people get older and not younger over time.

[@heyumnew1401]

I never laughed harder at a chess game than Caruana vs Korchinoi, Caruana got massacred by an 80yo 😂

[@nilsp9426]

Hey, when I was younger (around 12 years old) I got beaten by someone too deaf for me to resign to without shouting, sitting in a wheelchair, and dying the next year. Chess can be weird at times. It was kind of surprising the guy could still move his pieces. (admittedly, my strength back then was around 1100-1500 Elo)

[@twa9342]

@@nilsp9426😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@jimmyfuckthechainofcommand4332]

My type of lecture

[@ASMRChessWhispers]

Korchnoï was a monster, what a game! I love that Nd7-b6 idea to go for f5!

[@nilsp9426]

Maybe he was like: haha, that was my prep for a match in ninetenn umphtykee against Karpov, now I can finally use it!

[@ASMRChessWhispers]

That would be such as nice feeling. Sitting on an unused part of your prep for over 40 years then all of a sudden you get to use it!@@nilsp9426

[@miles5107]

I’m old. Go team old. Rawr!

[@ciazamate1]

never heard of korchnoi - what a boss. soviet school player showing that decades of experience is no joke

[@wlycdgrTheEverydayWorld]

Korchnoi is one of the half dozen strongest players to never be world champion - and many people would probably say THE strongest. In 1978, when he was already 47, he narrowly lost a 32-game world championship match against Karpov (who was in his late 20s & at the height of his vigor - this was 6 years before Karpov's first WC match against Kasparov, the one that Smyslov almost qualified for) If you think recent chess dramas have been good, look up "karpov korchnoi blueberry yogurt hypnosis yoga attempted murder"

[@Alex-xk6md]

This was real cool especially as ive been listening to the bobby fischer goes to war audiobook, and those old grandmasters are portrayed as a pantheon of demi-gods...anyway thanks dude!

[@newzild1]

This was a great lecture - one of my favourites so far. Especially since I'm about to turn 55.

[@kmarasin]

The first game is considered to be Semi-Tarrasch I'm pretty sure. Black's knight is on d5 early, meaning he retook white's cxd5 with the knight. Semi-Tarrasch is basically the only place that happens outside of the Gruenfeld.

[@elevenears4785]

This is one of my favourites. GO BEN!

[@atwarwithdust]

‘How Smyslov Got His Groove Back’, directed by Ben Finegold.

[@aarongifs]

I've watched a ton of your content and this is one of the best videos. Great games! Inspiring for aging chess players.

[@gm2407]

That Korchnoi game is a classic. Great play.

[@TobiasWilharm]

Nice Video, Ben!

[@GymChess]

If Korchnoi was a million years old at the time of his game in 2011, I guess one could call Caruana a fetus or newly born as late as 2011. :o

[@dominicwanzer2057]

excellent Simpsons reference at 6:33

[@douglaslarosa8782]

FANTASTIC video, Ben. I really enjoyed everything: analyses, anecdotes and games alike. Go, Ben! But stay there streaming 😁

[@blazevandine5819]

Thanks!

[@kenspencer9895]

Thanks. This 70--something year old chess player can identify with all the older players you mentioned, except my style of play is a lot rougher around the edges. 😁

[@yotoober1]

Later on kramnik went on to say that there was cheating going on in this gam too. Someone delivered a square bagel shaped like a rook which signified which move to make.

[@MrBonified66]

I'd remember these great games by old players for a long time, except for one thing. I'm old. What day is it again?

[@vanlaser5385]

All clear examples of chess players who never read the book you can clearly see in Ben's library at the start of the video: "How to beat your dad at chess"

[@owen429]

Am I crazy or was Rashkovsky even older than Karpov?

[@_mvr_]

Kramnik called, he said "at least I had a vat else"

[@wlycdgrTheEverydayWorld]

I didn't know that Seirawan and Karpov are friends. A pleasant surprise.

[@Mathemagical55]

Korchnoi was 79 when he beat Caruana with Black, just a few weeks before his 80th birthday on 23 March 2011. Viktor's last great game and surely the strongest 80 year old of all time?

[@zainquadri1206]

Who names their child Tarjan...? No wonder he decided to become a recluse librarian...

[@elonstruths1475]

Tarjan is his last name.

[@King.Mark.]

Yep

[@wlycdgrTheEverydayWorld]

Solid Bob Seger joke. Also, joke jokes aside, great lecture, thank you.

[@fabian13333]

9

[@Rubrickety]

Was this before or after Zoltan made Tom Hanks Big?

[@paulgoogol2652]

wow great take on why older players get worse. also probably younger players profit from a better memory when just kinda learning engines moves by heart. older players can still bank on their memory but this bank is getting kinda worthless considering how fast chess advances on the shoulders of Stockfish (in theory). good thing there are lame untheoretical opening like the one played against Kramnik.

[@TheVoicefrombelow]

Which of your weddings did he attend?

[@johne417]

18:05 It's funny how Kramnik was already the butt of cheating jokes, and they're more pertinent than ever 7 yrs later.

[@mikeryckman3120]

Can’t stand listening to you chug a drink on mike