Spassky & Pillsbury: Better than you Know | Games to Know by Heart - GM Ben Finegold

[@blake9746]

"Let's call on a random student. Arjun!" He's been doing this forever and it's always Arjun. Ben's best running joke.

[@blake9746]

SuperBruce53 That's not far from the truth. I feel like he'll be a chess machine when he's older. He got a young start, has fine teaching and really has shown progress throughout the videos. A force to be reckoned with I'm sure

[@TheClassicWorld]

He doesn't live at the Chess club -- HE IS THE CHESS CLUB. Too much?

[@lilweez2175]

Blake 17:00 "He was no Pillsbury but that takes the cake." lol!

[@scowell]

Now he has an Archer in Atlanta... some kind of karmic debt is paid. I hope Arjun becomes a GM.

[@carlescamps1523]

just imagine Arjun becoming world champion in like 10 years. I+

[@tharkanzox1493]

The internet was basically a wasteland until finegold came back

[@thejupiter1744]

jesse michaels Just a shame that during every lecture we have to put up with non stop corny jokes every 5 seconds. Everybody in my chess club says the same thing. If he’d quit the non stop jokes that are not funny I think he’d get ten times the viewers as his actual lectures when u strip away the jokes are very good.

[@pur3jock2h]

I run a chess club; his sarcasm is the best way for kids to tune in. I find my kids not finishing games because they get caught watching his videos during class too often. I have only a 30 minute class. We usually start with a puzzle or interesting opening someone did the week past, but always end up playing a Finegold video or just classical for the last 20 minutes of free play.

[@largestcamil4854]

what's the relationship between rock 🪨 e 8 and knowing the price tea 🍵 of China 🇨🇳

[@AboveAvgMan]

@@pur3jock2h korley is better

[@DSBGangmember001]

"White played e4 and black resigned" Ah, the French Defence.

[@5eriously148]

Funny thing is that actually happened

[@augustgreig9420]

@@5eriously148 Yeah, in every war ever.

[@5eriously148]

@@augustgreig9420 lmao

[@travisdurrans8866]

@@augustgreig9420 except when napoleon was in power. Then it was the opposite!

[@rodrigostetson7188]

i guess im asking randomly but does anyone know a trick to get back into an Instagram account?? I was stupid forgot my password. I would appreciate any help you can give me.

[@jw41538]

i've been watching 2-3 of finegold's lectures a day for a few weeks, and at first i was like "who is this extremely talkative kid?" and now i'm like "just another perfect call and response between finegold and arjun"

[@danielw2807]

Fischer-Panno 1970 Palma de Mallorca 1. c4 Black Resignd

[@bradenstewart6270]

The Finegold Arjun relationship makes this video even better haha

[@augustgreig9420]

It makes every video better.

[@noobpro9759]

His parents never imagined he would be so famous.

[@exquisitecorpse4917]

Boris Spassky *IS* my favorite player! I love the tension between old Soviet principles and his personal need for novelty and expression.

[@fireballxl-5748]

One of my favorites because of his gentlemanly conduct.

[@cchairez1947]

GM Ben Finegold makes the study of the games humorous and insightful! I am glad he has these videos. Thank you for your lectures!

[@HolyAvatar88]

This is my new favorite GM, I love the trashtalk.

[@alexjohanesson6137]

Ben Finegold not only GM but great comedian guy too , awesome

[@benselectionforcasting4172]

A Finegold video? SOLID!

[@syyhkyrotta]

Grandmaster Ben Finegold! We require more of your teachings..

[@StratteraCapsules]

Ben is in rare form, this has got to be one of his best comedic videos I've seen 🤣

[@serrie85]

0:30 no didn't know e4 and resigns but I do know d4 Nf6 c4 resigns.

[@sondremyrmel367]

I didnt know ben knew the french opening, E4 - resigns

[@benselectionforcasting4172]

sondre myrmel Any dim witted Individual with an advanced degree in hyperbolic topology could tell you that

[@Spasskij]

sondre myrmel Okey Sondre, you have a perfect first name - but as we all know that's e4 - resignation is the Swede variation of the Danish opening. It's terrible.

[@winstonsmithamm]

The French is better statistically than 1...e5.

[@pruusnhanna4422]

Well, you could try the American opening and not start playing until your opponent gives check.

[@TheBackyardProfessor]

Dude you are one of the funniest, and best informed chess teachers on the Galaxy! I am soooooooo enjoying your videos! Thanks for sharing your knowledge and making us laugh while learning. A HUGE two thumbs up!

[@TimothyW8]

I love Ben finegold with all of my heart.

[@gewijdebehaeghel6935]

A small detail: The 'Battle of Hastings' was actually fought in a place called 'Battle'. As 'The Battle of Battle' would have sounded silly they named it 'Hastings' after a nearby town. Anyhow, I love the lectures by Finegold and try to follow one each day.

[@pomster226]

While that's an often repeated tale, it's not true. The town of Battle was named after the battle itself, not the other way around. Probably the area didn't really have a name at the time, it was just near Hastings, and that's why the battle is named as such. The town of Battle is named that because it is built around the location of the battle itself.

[@kojiattwood]

Something tells me that Larsen didn't actually say "RAAARRRH, I wanna be on board one!"

[@FlavioSantos-be8bm]

Very good chess teacher!!! I Always watch his classes , learn a lot !!!!

[@sogdianus9909]

Not enough Ben videos 😅

[@zubizuva]

Very suspicious.

[@beeble2003]

0:20 "So, the first game, White played e4..." You know you're deep in the Finegoldverse when you complete the sentence in unison with him, "... and Black resigned" on first viewing of hte lecture.

[@ASHISHKUMARDPSG]

GM Ben Finegold, your indolence is inefficacious. Let's ask a random student what that means. ARJUN!

[@bobi5202]

You with the wrong answer!

[@scullion01]

Checkmate, with advantage.

[@elbay2]

Incorrect!

[@yogeshanchu]

Very suspicious frankly terrible

[@winstonsmithamm]

The only games I know by heart are scholar's mate and fool's mate.

[@AlexBeston]

nice video! watched it all the way through. thanks!

[@bobi5202]

Guys at 16:18 he names a chess book about Pillsbury, does anyone know who the author is or if it's sold somewhere? Can't find it !

[@narinpratap8790]

I love his sarcasm! That opening line totally cracked me up lol

[@V8SupersQirreL]

If there ever is a University teaching "Chess history", Ben Finegold is the first expert. If there was a title "Best Stand-up-chess comedian" - it's ... right, Arjun!

[@joeraymond2589]

You gave me a number of good laughs with this video...You should find out what you can about these 2 chess books; (1.) The Incomparable Twins (Lasker vs Pillsbury games), also this book has a tribute written by Lasker in honor of his friend and opponent Pillsbury!... (2.) Pillsbury vs Russia ( Pillsbury played 50 games of chess and they are all in this book )... In addition, while playing these chess games, Pillsbury was also simultaneously playing 50 games of checkers and a game of Duplicate Whist! Now, let me explain the setup for this in Russia, THE 50 Chess Games were played in one building, the 50 Checkers Games were played in a second building, and in a third building, Pillsbury was sitting and playing a game of Duplicate Whist. A loudspeaker system was set up to connect the 3 buildings, so Pillsbury could announce all his moves for all the Chess and Checkers games while he played Duplicate Whist. When it was lunchtime they paused all the games... After lunch, but before all the games were to be resumed; the Russian Chess Masters wanted to make a fool of Pillsbury because they didn't believe anything they heard about his phenomenal feats of MEMORY. So they invited him to come into the first building where the 50 games were being played... The moves and game positions for all 50 chess games were carefully recorded so they could easily be set back up the way they were before the lunch break. I say this because when Pillsbury saw the boards for the very first time, they had all been cleared and set back at the Starting Position. Now, the Russians were ready to spring their surprise Memory Test Challenge on Pillsbury so that it would prove him to be nothing but an arrogant American fraud that they all believed him to be. Here's the challenge; They asked Pillsbury to play out all the moves of all 50 games right up to the point when they were paused for the lunch break, or as best and as far as he could using only his memory. Then the Russians would check each board noting all his errors and missing moves... However, Pillsbury knew they were expecting to make a fool of him. The Russians were in for a shocking surprise! Here's what Pillsbury did; a big smile appeared on his face as he set down his lit thick black cigar, then he walked up to the first chessboard... quickly removing ALL the chess pieces, and then putting back only the pieces (on both sides) that were still in play at the time the Lunch Break was called. Then Pillsbury did the same thing to boards 2 - 50. (NOTE: ALL THE PIECES ON ALL THE BOARDS WERE PLACED ON THE RIGHT SQUARES, he made no mistakes.) But, Pillsbury was far from being finished with his demonstration; he then recited the name of his Russian opponent at each board, plus all the moves made in each game so far, and finished his demonstration by telling each of his opponents the exact number of moves that remained in their games until he forced them all into checkmate!!!!! After this, play resumed and Pillsbury won all 50 chess games, he won all 50 checkers games, and he won his game of Duplicate Whist!!!!! The Russians were the ones who were humiliated and embarrassed, but they asked for it because they intended to do the same to Pillsbury with their surprise memory test. So the Russians learned a valuable lesson from this demonstration by the Amazing Pillsbury! Oh! One more thing there was a great book published on Pillsbury in 1922 titled "Pillsbury's Chess Career"; but earlier it was published under its ORIGINAL TITLE, " The Invincible Pillsbury "... The book contains a wonderful portrait of Harry Nelson Pillsbury, plus 2 games I want to mention here. The book has the very first game of World Chess Champion Steinitz playing Pillsbury when he was only 11yrs old! And Pillsbury won! The other game I want to tell you about is as follows; Pillsbury and Lasker were playing a game and on move 7 Pillsbury decided to play a different move instead of the one he had planned to play, just to see what his friend Lasker would do. He did it for fun, even though he ended up losing that game. But, 10 long years later (due to their schedules), they were finally able to get together again to replay this game! The interest in this rematch was incredible, fortunes were bet on who the winner would be. Imagine the setting; a room full of wealthy fans watching two chess giants play what has since become a very famous game in chess history for it was the last time these 2 great friends would meet across the board. Please note; that they both played the exact same first 6 moves they had played in that game 10 years earlier. But, on move 7, this time Pillsbury played the move that he had planned to play in that previous game. This time Pillsbury was playing a straight serious game of chess with his friend. Since they never met across the board again; this game was appropriately titled... " The Last Bolt Of Lightning "! There was a tv show on the educational channel in Canada that focused on showing viewers the greatest games of chess ever played. And, of all the games they had showcased on their show over the years, the one episode that all the fans requested repeatedly over and over again. Well, it was the episode that showed the game called "The Last Bolt Of Lightning"!!!!! By the way, I happen to own that chess book on Pillsbury. Hope I didn't bore you with my long comment. I don't know if you can find this game online or not.

[@augustsbautra]

Is it just me or has the volume in latest videos been a tad too low? I like it when turning the volume all the way up on KZbin it's too loud, and 75% just right. More boost needed!

[@kapa1611]

10:43 references are not jokes!!!! (you are awesome GM Finegold!)

[@BeatPoet67]

I love this. Reminded me of being taught in the 1970's without the corporal punishment! The desire not to be humiliated is a big incentive for some. The flip-side is it's disastrous for others. I guess it tells us quickly which subjects are best suited to our talents. I can't imagine any strong young players being intimidated here.

[@PatchworkPS]

3 years later, I still can't handle this comment. What a goddamn start to a paragraph.

[@MrRustytrain]

Am I the only one who loved his ''every other move is like stockfish 9'' (6:28) joke?

[@basehead617]

I love all the jokes, just a ball buster

[@ruialves4903]

I love Ben's videos, i really do! He is, along side with Akhobian, my favorite SL chess teacher!

[@renehenriksen1735]

The day they invent the Finegold-gambit we clap!

[@hassansahir8227]

Great class thank u

[@Tracks777]

Great stuff :)

[@Anubrogue]

Was that a Trump joke by Kaidanov at 27:40 that didn't make it through Ben Simon's fine editing work?

[@buffalotheory504]

17:40 did

[@robertbentley5604]

It SHOULD be removed because this is a chess channel and not a place for arguing politics. Glad that's all you gathered from the video though.... and typical...

[@WillToWinvlog]

Robert, you had no reason to state that it's all they gathered from the video. It's just what they wanted to say which was relevant in some way. @@robertbentley5604

[@tomeboaventura9054]

What's Arjun rating and age?

[@Parthasorenchess]

18:34 when i said boris spassky there was this little really loud crickets... I was like how they get in here

[@Mainswitch55]

These comments down there... He is greedy because he gives you the opportunity to donat... News: You do not have to! All vids on KZbin here are free so what? I like his videos much because the way he explaines is funny and you´ll keep them mind more easy, very cool even for me, a Ken West with like elo 1700-1800. Regards to all here

[@kamilbaran345]

I like this guy

[@alanwalk9084]

Ben Finegold is a golden god!!!!!

[@Evilanious]

"People on the internet say that 'Mike Kummer is the worst', 'I hate Mike Kummer'. I should stop doing that."

[@juanjuzgadoibiza558]

Who was playing against Spassky? Bent Larsen or Matt Larsen?

[@coffeebot7016]

who is in that picture on the far left behind Ben?

[@IngTomT]

Stockfish: "1.e4 with mate in 64" Me: "Fair enough" *resigns*

[@preilly101]

Not gonna criticize you like other viewers inconsideratly but I will say the 2nd game was already shown in games to remember ironically i don't remember who showed it I believe mr. Shrantz bit again thx for the good video st louis amd gm finegold

[@Vecue]

2:50 caught me off guard - Finegold fails to disappoint despite of all expectations.

[@dominguezpereira1]

Hello, I am chatting from Spain. First at all congratulations for the videos and the lessons. I'd like to make a question about the play between Spassky vs Antonomov. Instead of the move Knight to b4 done by Antonomov, would it be posible and better the move knight to a5, and next one Night to c4?. Excuse me for my possible mistakes in English.

[@MrMorlaf]

hehehehe Argen rocks! he should give a brief chess lesson on anything he likes/find interesting!

[@12jswilson]

6:00 seriously, if you do play h6 on move 3 against the Italian, I'm going to take that as a sign of weakness and relentlessly attack you. I score really well against 3... h6

[@kurtnevermind9683]

Larsen vs. Spassky - Move 15. What about Kf1 instead of Rxh1? ...the idea: 15. Kf1 / Qh4 16. Bf3 / exf3 17. Qf5+ / Kb8 18. Q5 ...anything wrng with that?

[@PJMleBG]

Kurt Nevermind Bf3 Rxg1 white resigns

[@chigoatmarley6188]

Always entertaining

[@andrewhall7930]

Dude. Everytime I see Feingold I think: This dude needs to hit the Gym. Props for mentioning Pillsbury

[@angelsegarra-gonzalez4708]

Spassky would have been 12 years old when he played this game.Boris Vasilievich is considered one off the greatest natural talents in chess history.

[@basehead617]

I lost it when he said the kid at the camp guessed 'me?' for who Fischer beat to become World Champion

[@MrJimzovich]

Anyone who doesn't know how great Spassky was should try to get his 100 Best Games by Bernard Cafferty. I played through it when I was a kid and I got hold of a copy a few years ago and went through the games again to remind myself of his brilliance at his peak. Sadly losing to Fischer killed his fighting spirit and he was never again the same player.

[@internationalism3219]

MrJimzovich I understand how a spirit can be broken , chess is psychological to say the least

[@MrJimzovich]

Fischer said that his favourite thing about chess was seeing "the other guy's ego crumble.'

[@matthewheritage9725]

Can someone explain the tea in China joke?

[@petergriffin8767]

3 years later, i need an explanation too hahaha

[@zacharycat]

One of the most beautiful games ever played. (It also withstands rigorous computer analysis!!) It is also, in my opinion, a very original game of chess, and it is not anticipated by any other game. - LIFE Master A.J. Goldsby I 16. Bxh6!!, (Wow!) A brilliant rejoinder, most likely unforeseen by Winawer. Chernev only gives this one exclamation point, (And the FIRST move in this game to receive an exclamation mark by Chernev.); but since White had some VERY viable alternative(s), I think it fully deserves two exclams. - LM A.J. Goldsby I

[@TheMaestromMephisto]

Nick Pope is a goalkeeper for Newcastle United in UK also wrote a book on Pillsbury? nice

[@ninjagrade]

Ben and Arjun might be my favourite people in the world.

[@MsUncleKevin]

Arjun is like bart. He never olds!

[@MsUncleKevin]

bro bro bro bro ....

[@ShoeAlmighty]

the volume on these vids is a little low

[@alephnull4044]

f4... a great example of the 'central fishing pole' lol.

[@MrJimzovich]

Imagine we have a time machine. We go back to the 1850s and grab Morphy. We give him say a year for intensive daily chess study, then we go back to Fischer in '71 and give him maybe three months to catch up on the latest opening theory. Then we get them to play each other in a 24 game match. Who wins? I think Fischer, but maybe only by one game.

[@vibovitold]

But why would he want to do "intensive daily chess study"? If Carlsen were taken to year 2150, do you think he'd like to sit down and spend a year preparing for some lengthy chess match instead of exploring the world of the future? : )

[@RaymondR127]

"checkmate with advantage"

[@bunpeishiratori5849]

Pillsbury died young, which is probably the biggest reason why so many people don't know too much about him.

[@sircurtisseretse3297]

Well, if you tell people that he died of syphilis, [True.] then everybody will know who he was. For example: Ben Finegold. Anybody heard of Harry Pillsbury? Club member. Yeah, he's that guy who died of syphilis. Ben Finegold. Correct. You see?

[@basehead617]

I don't think I've ever laughed so much in a chess video that's for sure

[@samsmusichub]

If ever win the world championship, I'm going to retire. I'm like a 700 now, so it should be in a few.. months from now.

[@dannygjk]

The Larsen vs Spassky game was played when Larsen thought that his Zoom 007 opening system was good.

[@Musicrafter12]

17:00 "anyway he was no Pillsbury but that takes the cake" Jesus the audience doesn't get anything lol

[@kylespecter6580]

"if you take it I have no idea what I would do but I know what I would do"👀 10:55

[@aravindgundakaram1830]

White played e4 and black resigned! That was not Roofus vs. Doofus, but a game I played online.😂😂😂😋😋

[@fixpontt]

i started learning chess one year ago and i feel i mostly understand general principles (Ben usually teach these in the videos), where im terrible at: calculating variaitons, so how can i improve my calculations? im usually lost after depth ~4 :D i like your videos, keep doing it

[@davideferrara507]

Fixpont you should not focus on depth but on pattern recognition. that's the key in chess. my suggestion is simple tactical puzzles of 2-3 moves depth coming for real games. Good players are good because they SEE the important things (through pattern recognition) not because they see in deep (in which even a master can fail)

[@cristiangamboa2037]

Whats up with Argen?

[@buffalotheory504]

I think it's (was) his very young private student who knew most of the answers on kids lectures. Over time he became a staple.

[@matiass1150]

2:00 You finally agreed that steinitz was a good player!

[@leavethebasket7435]

The variation in the semislav with Bd6 basically led to a position from the Scandinavian except where black has their bishop trapped behind their own pawns. Terrible.

[@flpsnk4848]

17:45 The best :D

[@dougholtby3035]

Spassky is ,super Great!!

[@samsmusichub]

The level of disappointment from Finegold at the beginning of this video XD

[@Chesstastic5000]

Wait a minute wasn’t Paul Morphy American?

[@leadnitrate2194]

Yes, he was. Why?

[@Chesstastic5000]

@@leadnitrate2194 hmmm if I recall correctly he said something about Bobby Fischer being the first strong American. Literally 2 years after the comment though wow.

[@vaibhavvb9898]

@@Chesstastic5000 recall again after another 2 years

[@levarkizer3161]

Check out Levar Kizer on KZbin( chess master rap )produced by Kizer Soze

[@victorsalinas3891]

i was hoping for a joke about Magnus getting mad at Maurice.

[@richonfen]

Didn't happen yet when this was taken

[@victorsalinas3891]

o yes i forgot they dont post videos right after they record them.

[@CoachJohnMcGuirk]

Arjun!!!!!!

[@camreese]

29:18 lmao i love when he rips on modern chess

[@MarianoFreyreX]

Well thats one of my favorita games, cuz i didnt see it before today jajajaajajja

[@columbo-zoli]

great:)

[@saxophoneguy]

ben made the games as short as possible so he walked his king up the kingside in a closed position right. doh

[@Gastogh]

Right, Arjun?

[@dago6410]

Who else think Steinitz v van bardeleben is the best chess game ever, muvh more beautifull than any ever green, inmortal, game of the century, opera game et cetera?

[@heavymentalgamer2580]

1. d4... And here I would like to take pause and talk for an hour about why Black is lost.

[@yogeshanchu]

Because... i get paid by the hour... very suspicious

[@diago2212]

comments will earn 2 finegold videos a day

[@vp4744]

very suspicious jokes

[@buffalotheory504]

OMG just realised I didn't watch this for the chess!

[@some______guy]

Arjun is great at the jokes now. "I get paid by the hour"

[@WhizzerdSupreme]

Hastings 1066: William of Normandy defeats the English with the French Defence.

[@mahmoudarafah7929]

it is great to remove dust to show some of spassky greatness.....he is really underestimated world champion I like his universality and lines he plays also his personality

[@sabahdeanatassi8292]

He is threatning Rxh1 with a advantage

[@sabahdeanatassi8292]

His stundnent said I know its not rh1 Then Ben said of it is rh1 hahah. I would have said every move that could be played then for sure u would have said the Best move.

[@sabahdeanatassi8292]

He said every move on the h file with the rook but rh1. I loved that part!

[@sabahdeanatassi8292]

Not rh1 it is rh1 thats funny

[@mrfokus901]

Look.. Ya'll better start laughing at my boy ben or I'm kicking everybody ass from now on!