Karpov and his Ruy Lopez | Mastering the Middlegame - GM Ben Finegold

[@nikoyochum6974]

20:37 that “umm” is the exact note and timbre of the opening note of “All Star”

[@avexus7756]

some

[@smith_und]

one of the greatest youtube comments of all time

[@davidjones4201]

Glorious

[@garrettsmith6549]

@@avexus7756 body

[@icecoldtoddy9773]

@@garrettsmith6549 once

[@OzzyCat16]

“He stopped g6 better than you guys did. He resigned.” Hahahahahahaha

[@addy7464]

When you want to become a stand up comedian but end up being a chess grandmaster

[@hugovaz777]

​@@GrowingFatherchess grandpa master

[@guthax30]

He’s pretty much the only GM with any charm at all. The rest border on autistic. Just being honest here. Magnus is one boring person when he speaks.

[@ChinaNumbaOne1]

Dude is funny 😂

[@addy7464]

@@ChinaNumbaOne1 he is a natural at this.

[@dmaster20ify]

What I like about Ben Finegold is how he intertwines real life in his jokes to teach people valueable lessons.

[@justincaseudid]

And the Simpsons.

[@xxAutoFlowxx]

Guy is hilarious...But instructive

[@nilsp9426]

Like "never move your pawns"? :D

[@dmaster20ify]

Like, all of your children have no talent; yes you parents at home. They play some memorized opening they coach taught them, lose, there coach said they played it wrong; try again and loose again then they give up on Chess and play hockey. Then lose in hockey also!

[@nilsp9426]

Also: never play f6!

[@Randozza]

A 50 minute Finegold lecture just honestly made my day :)

[@hey8174]

It's funny how many views he gets relative to other speakers. Not downplaying others' lectures, its just that Ben really brings another element that is hard to replicate. He is just naturally charismatic and witty.

[@sarthakkokane5776]

+ATL yep same

[@blairschirmerx1711]

Really? The constantly yammering and superficial analysis are unwatchable. Finegold actually made a Karpov game too painful to watch. No offense, but are you a teenager?

[@gregvinson1]

?

[@gregvinson1]

Blair Schirmer

[@youtubeplaylist4072]

It's insane how many good instructive chess analysis from GMs are there for free. Thank you for posting such high quality content for free :) I was stuck on 1500 for almost 2 years and now im getting better ever since i started watching your videos. You are promoting chess in a just most beautiful manner. Greetings from Serbia!

[@stonewall573]

Me before the apocalypse : "Oh but it's ok, a6 is defended"

[@SandroSegadora]

Karpov was a much better player than people give him credit for. Not only was he superb in the Ruy Lopez but he crushed other players in the Sicilian Defense, in fact, outside of Kasparov, Karpov beat almost everyone else who played the Sicilian against him.

[@mizofan]

Oh yes, Karpov was one of the very greatest and if his first world title match v Kasparov in 84 hadn't been so long he might well be rated the greatest player ever. It took Kasparov 32 games to win a game in that match; his stamina and grit saved him, but he would have lost 4-0 after 12 games, also after 24 games, or 5-0 after 30 games. Karpov's quality took him to another level

[@SandroSegadora]

***** Ask Fischer fans about Karpov. They think that Karpov is bad.

[@SandroSegadora]

***** It's not an odd generalization, it's just my experience with people in the chess community.

[@skillywilly187]

and nothing for nothing if you think about it yeah kasparov beat karpov 2xs technically maybe 3 ALL the game points came down to like 1 point of half point one time. no one blew anyone out the water like fischer did to spassky

[@ikervita8188]

Marko Kostic No, Karpov is inarguably one of the greatest chess players of all time. As far as I'm concerned he beat Kasparov in their 1984/1985 world championship match. Kasparov and Karpov were basically equal in strength. The thing with Fischer is he dominated like no other had before or since, a young Karpov would be no match for Fischer (assuming he kept playing), 1975, 1978 (my prediction is 12.5-6.5) WC matched would end with comfortable wins for Bobby. Karpov would have become a greater player than he did in our timelines (but, again, so would Fischer) by 81 it might be a close victory for Fischer (12.5-10.5), but by 84, age might get the better of him and its possible Karpov wins (12.5-11.5). If Fischer retires after the 85 match, and Kasparov never plays him, I'm confident Karpov would been the superior player to Kasparov throughout their careers, the rivalry with Fischer would be invaluable and he'd have learned so much about chess. As the matches against Fischer would essentially be chess lessons. Thinking about it makes me quite sad, the best of Fischer, is never to be seen he never reached his potential, and Karpov remained forever unable to play Bobby.

[@cholyom2629]

"when your rating goes up, you like bishops more" 😆😆😆 I like that 👍👍👍

[@justinduran1]

How does Ben not do stand up.. His humor is so entertaining

[@venkystanley9180]

Let's say you are playing Kasparov.. You should probably wake up at that point 😆😆😆 made my day!!! ben at his finest

[@gamblinggator3177]

@AJ De Luna you may same in a dreamer but I'm not the only one

[@hw8556]

@@gamblinggator3177 You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.

[@gnpar]

Ben at his finegoldest

[@bullymaguire632]

@@gnpar lmao

[@johntatum1951]

The Ruy Lopez opening seems to build up slowly and rely on position and slow expansion of space...at the same time, it can be sneaky aggressive. Love Ben's lectures!!

[@idunoh1902]

*"Rawer"-GM Ben Finegold*

[@AndrewIsbell]

Thank you very much. Ben Finegold videos are my favorite chess videos by far.

[@arsenalfanrichi]

Mato Jelic is great too! I enjoy quite a few of them tbh. Seirawans are really deep. Schrantz are similar to Finegold. Kingscrushers are extremely in depth and Mato always chooses phenomenal games and keeps them digestible.

[@simonenoli4418]

+arsenalfanrichi id recommend you john bartholomew's climbing the rating ladder/instructional videos then. they are straightforward and really instructive chess notions although no flashy games from superGM are covered

[@arsenalfanrichi]

+Timothy Barth Yep, sorry, forgot to mention Johns videos... They're great too! And he gives good insight into the precognition good players have

[@calicoixal]

I just started watching this, and I absolutely love Ben Finegold's humor. I'm surprised I'm not hearing roaring laughter from the audience.

[@beeble2003]

They're not miked, so you wouldn't hear it.

[@ahrrydepp493]

Stupid audience

[@dmaster20ify]

Karpov is a beast, true positional player. People were scared of him, even Kasparov had a tough time with him. The only problem I think is Kasparov's more detailed approach to concrete analysis, while Karpov was overly focused on General strategy.

[@MrFetitzele]

John Brown Kasparov has an all time +2 score against Karpov , something like that

[@macleadg]

Karpov was up 5-0 with a bunch of draws against Kasparov in their first match. That would normally be a slam-dunk win. Kasparov was shocked at how good Karpov was, since he had buzzed through all the challengers.

[@johnbongjoey5200]

Someone says "IM Norm" to you, just say "Nice to meet you Norm, my name's Ben"

[@henrilemoine3953]

How does this man makes chess hilarious?

[@missjessgem]

Today is my birthday and I get a new Ben Finegold lecture as a present. Yay!

[@tomsmith4452]

happy bd!!❤😁

[@venkystanley9180]

happy bday :)

[@napoliav]

happy birthday Jessica

[@BEstudent]

TERRIBLE!!!! xD

[@missjessgem]

Evert Clowting very suspicious

[@sixsteperunning7729]

I have learned more from you and as such my game has improved substainsu..substansual...a lot...thanks much.

[@mithileshwadurkar8809]

Ba dum tsss

[@billowen3285]

Substantially

[@jasonofathens2254]

ben: "c4..." me: which is explosive ben: "...which is explosive" we're vibing

[@vanburen8219]

lol

[@thetransferaccount4586]

another nice lecture

[@cruser117]

wow it took me like 20 finegold videos to get the C4 being an explosive move joke. Im the reason hes always making fun of the audience at home, sorry guys

[@lindseywagner333]

its ok hes probably making fun of me too i just am not aware of it yet

[@gareth2736]

Thanks for the comment I have just got the joke now

[@reddevilkev]

Ben you are brilliant man so funny but still the lesson is so instructive even with al the jokes, a joy to watch and listen

[@napoliav]

i lost interest in chess long time ago but i still watch every ben finegold video for his humor

[@KA1blow]

Why lost interest in chess ?

[@amd6328]

+The Dardans too hard for me

[@killerkeemstar7431]

About 1-2 years ago I was really bad,I had a chess class.I just practiced and got better

[@johntatum1951]

I once beat the level 5 computer on chess.com without coaching....for real...that is my best victory so far.

[@fdyolgooseeljan7031]

John Tatum Congratzzzz!! Haha.. still struggling at level 8 :(

[@hey8174]

Ben Finegold gives such entertaining lectures!

[@fakecubed]

That Karpov-Spassky game was really instructive.

[@sparkygtynes]

Back and forth between funny and hard to listen to, excellent insight thought

[@johnmcdonough955]

Karpov's play is formative. Not everyone is a tactical genius but Karpov is a strategical master. The Strategist of his era and formidable.

[@wowyaywowyaywow]

Only two days and already > 10,000 views! You're well loved, Ben Finegold!

[@roamin_candle743]

I absolutely love Ben finegold! Honestly his personality’s more refreshing than sprite, which (if you’ve watched the commercials) we all know is shockingly refreshing. (This video was very helpful. I appreciate it!)

[@arsenalfanrichi]

Love the Karpov lectures. Hope Ben's doing okay after Korchnois passing

[@newenglandsun4394]

means he can move up in the rankings

[@arsenalfanrichi]

+newenglandsun :)

[@tijn9137]

arsenalfanrichi i

[@TheHornetSquad]

This guy is the Rich Evans of Chess.

[@Ianuarius]

I wish Richevans was this funny!

[@SomeBF]

‘I can’t take my eyes off of him’ - Julia Roberts on A-list Celebrity Rich Evans

[@waldemarsalzkafer7089]

That was an excellent lecture with well chosen games. Thank you :)

[@markswaggerty4958]

If Jonah hill was a grand master

[@Hoobyj]

Jonah Hill *is* a grandmaster... Of ACTING

[@kellmerWF52]

hey kids, you will be this in 40 years, get out and exercise

[@danielsayre3385]

LMAO

[@IDDQDSound]

@@Hoobyj for my money he looks more like Ethan Suplee

[@mohrocks1018]

“Breaking one of my rules... never move pawns.” *shrugs nonchalantly* 😂 that killed me

[@potatosalad9063]

rofl love his face when he ask questions no on knows the answer for (which happens 90% of the time)

[@Lekhology]

Awesome Teacher and Chess Player.. I wish I could attend his class.

[@AlfieLW]

Ben must like the training method of beat you up to build you up, so mean to those kids. lol

[@yuralemin1754]

Really glad to see Ben lecturing again.

[@whithaw]

I enjoy his lectures. diamonds in the rough

[@timbubotmabaho9806]

20:27 "yeah, well, he stopped it better than you guys. he resigned" got me chuckling

[@BREAKocean]

I think I can watch finegold videos forever

[@mrtampham]

Awesome lecture. Thank you so much for all your hard work putting this together. This channel has been fantastic for learning chess and makes me love the game so much more. also, your humor is so point. it's dorky in many good ways. :)

[@Hatudi]

Is he the best teacher in the world? I think so

[@kingpin1199]

The answer is fries

[@andrew_owens7680]

My time with the Ruy was misspent youth. It was the Fischer era and there was nobody to train me and a bunch of Fischer Ruy games. Everybody played Ruy and Sicilian which are DEEP, DEEP, DEEP openings. It's easy to go 30 moves and still be in book! And that was before computers (that were good).

[@qwertyuiop6006]

Why did i just watch a 50 min video about chess strategies when i barely know how the pieces move?

[@narcolepticdude414]

"Am I having a stroke?" That's my new favorite Finegold line.

[@Burnthesof]

Finally Finegold!

[@djoneal071897]

Finegold. If people are paying attention to life and all the nuggets it gives you, a name like this should give them pause. I, too, was put off a bit by his humor, as this audience clearly was (buncha zombies, how do you not ‘lol’ in the first 10 mins?). But this is gold and I’m grateful to have found it.

[@Shr3dderGaming]

In the last Karpov game 41:45, Bc3 was played instead of c5 because of the tactical shot Bxc5! if Qxc5 then just Qxc5 followed by Rxd2. if bxc5 then Qxa5 is winning.

[@mohamedkettet7830]

ben finegold , thank you a lot

[@milleoscar]

R.I.P Viktor Korchnoi :(

[@jasondoe2596]

Oh, sorry to hear that :(

[@Idontunderstandchess]

Damn i would have wanted to hear him in person.

[@russelmerchant984]

Very informative

[@confucheese]

“And he plays C4, which is explosive.” Fuck off lmao

[@gxtmfa]

There should be a video about the Petroff Defense

[@naethanielyap6933]

it's not ''petroff'' but ''petrov''

[@gxtmfa]

I've seen both spellings. Petroff was the English spelling used in Kasparov's books (which may have been his editors' choices). If you want to be technical, the rest of the world calls it Russian Game and his name was actually Петро́в. But go ahead and nitpick if you're up to it.

[@justchilling4816]

XD

[@rednac6182]

Actually, "Petroff" is the German spelling. Petrov's studies about this defense, which was thought to be incorrect until he examined it, were first translated to German and thus the Petroff spelling. Anyway as you said, in many countries it is known as the Russian game; not everywhere though, as in Spain (my country, but many others as well) it's most commonly referred to as the Petrov, with a "v", since no one uses anymore the German original spelling for the name of the player (although it is true that it's still used to name the opening). Not even Germans, who now transcript it as Petrow (but call it Russian game). Just a bit of trivia. Anyway you're right, I'm not trying to argue, just to contribute!

[@gxtmfa]

red nac No, go ahead. That was fascinating

[@florentingoyens7558]

I've watched this video several times! Amazing value I think

[@azzymlbb5811]

video on how to defend as white in marshall gambit.... plzzz

[@ladyki9517]

I just find Ben to be so entertaining .

[@OwenRona]

I love Ruy Lopez opening! 😁 had the game gone the way @21:56, white wins the Queen with Nxg6 - Rxg6, Qh5+ - Kg7 (protect g6 rook), Rxd6 - Qxd6 ( or lose 2nd Knight), Nf5+ forks the black King and Queen while the Ruy Lopez bishop is ready to breathe fire down the G8 diagonal. 👍

[@Jealod24]

At around 6:57 Ben suggests Spasky moved his knight from c6 back to b8 so as to potentially reposition the knight to attack whites bishop via b8, d7, c5, the whites bishop retreats to the second rank and on white’s next turn he can kick the knight by moving his pawn to b4. If you are in this starting position and your goal is to attack white’s bishop on b3 then moving your knight back to b8 wastes tempo and allows your knight to be attacked (if your goal is to move your knight to b8 so as to reposition to d7 and the e6 or the like, then moving the knight back makes sense). A better knight move is from c6 directly to a5, forcing whites bishop back to c2, and if white the moves his pawn to b4 to kick your knight... you can now place your knight on the c4 square, and if black plays pawn d3, you can maneuver your knight to b6, which adds further protection to the d5 square (already protected by the other knight to f6) for a eventual pawn break.

[@Remro88]

You are missing the point. The Breyer opening as the Tchigorin aim less as to attack the b3 bishop than to consolidate the center with c5 or Nd7. If you want to kill the bishop go for the Taimanov variation ( 4. Ba4 b5 5.Bb3 Na5 6....Nxb3)

[@BehnamEsmayli]

How could he call Carpov's game boring? When Carpov does sac it is 200% accurate. He sees through it all. His game to me are mathematical proofs.

[@SirACuza1859]

if c4 is "explosive", b4 is "polish-ed" ;) :) ... funniest chess teaching lessons I have ever enjoyed . Thumbs up :)

[@Deepthinking1234]

I came for a research to WashU in St. Louis, and started watching your videos here. Now I became a member of the club. Mostly because Ben Finegold and Jonathan Schrantz. Thanks guys, you make chess more beautiful with your positive energies. Always.

[@jw41538]

"breaking my rule 'never move pawns'". finally a new finegold rule!

[@charly8535]

This guy is a pure gold, id say a fine pure gold, ba dum tsss

[@mickeyrube6623]

Do you think this is an original thought? This is nothing new. Ben Finegold has been fine gold.

[@charly8535]

@@mickeyrube6623 Ive been waiting 3 years for someone to respond

[@cw4karlschulte661]

Excellent! And a GM with a sense of humor! Karl, in jeff city, mo

[@p1nesap]

Excellent study.

[@jannickackermans2449]

go ben finegold great lecture.suggestion for opening class french advance or english main line

[@suvrob_chess1677]

excellent discussion

[@beartube93]

I was half expecting the rest of the video to be censored after Ben said, "I'm very opinionated."

[@kinderschubser92]

I LOVE LISTENING TO GM BEN FINEGOLD! ALL CAPS! HES A GOD!

[@PeterSzpiriev]

Thank You Sir! 6:09 Karpov is King of Chess also Kasparov, they are genius i knew personally welll, Portisch Lajos may look atound my favorite is Topalov and Kramnik

[@gyrgrls]

It was 1974. I I favored this one chess club, because it was right across the street from a pawn shop.

[@iiREYteoii]

"when they start playing crazy in the opening, the game is a boring draw later, and when they start playing boring then it gets all exiting" actually true

[@jasondoe2596]

Yay, more Ben! :D

[@davidsims5647]

Total noob here. What is the software they use to present the games in these videos?

[@King.Mark.]

in life you can be good at all things or great at one , choose wisely ⏳

[@Malvegil357]

He should have verified the statement by Miles. Beliavsky had plenty of draws and sometimes even wins from the black side of the closed Ruy Lopez.

[@aromeran]

He plays c4, explosive and then c5, which is still explosive so... lol

[@renehenriksen1735]

Ben Finegold is so funny when he lifts his hand in gesticulation and it seems like he´s going to checkmate.... ;)

[@Ibakecookiess]

What player are they talking about at 4:20? I can't make out the name.

[@BehnamEsmayli]

Unless he is being sarcastic, how could he call Karpov boring?!

[@Androzim]

How do you call 'this position' in Russian?

[@TheSindhu16]

“He stopped it better than you guys he resigned”

[@bezzlebedeviled4756]

41:57 -- Interesting that the engine doesn't like moving the knight to f3; of the nine lines examined, it's the least-liked. 43:40 -- Black should have been maneuvering his bishops to better squares instead of Rd4? He drops a full engine point here, and gets steadily worse hereon. 45:56 -- Qe8?? ...The engine has been marking Bg7 as the best move turn-after-turn for quite some time, and Black steadfastly refused to play it. Qc7 would also have prevented the impending king-rook fork.

[@sashaallan855]

I think you are using low depth. Complex positions typicallh require quite a bit of time for accurate results. Sacrifices and such sometimes need forcing to get an engine to evaluate them.

[@karthikkallam7647]

At 21:38 .... Rg8 could White play Rxd6 then Qxd6, Nxg6, Rxg6, Qh5+, Rh6, Qxh6+, Kxh6, Nf5+, Kg7, then Nxd6. White is down the exchange but has compensation being two pawns up. (By the way I am only a 1550 so I might be wrong)

[@Tod_oMal]

Did Kasparov ever played the Ruy Lopez with black against Karpov? Someone know that by a chance?

[@josephtarantin1931]

Can you make a video about Bc5 instead of Bd7?

[@DylanJayce]

23:35 is perfect.

[@davincerica7232]

I loved the Doors reference

[@luckysarig]

In newer videos and guides explaining the Ruy lopez I see A3 getting played over C3 (not necessarily on move 8). Anyone know why's that?

[@17AJ06]

He predicted the 2018 world championship matchup lol

[@christopherduenas2695]

He even predicted the draw ending "They are the same person, right?" hahahaha

[@adefabrisio8576]

God daiumm i love Ben Finegold..... His lectures are amazing with Sprinkles of Jokes Here and ther,,,,.More like Sprinkles of Jokes everywhere 👏🔥 🙋🙌

[@Malvegil357]

Beliavsky had draws and wins from the black side of the Lopez prior to his 1992 game with Miles. So what is Finegold talking about?

[@perafelix]

In the first game what the white should move after black ....g5?

[@ramigv]

Do you know what is the chess software they use?

[@herzwatithink9289]

Karpov + Ruy Lopez + Finegold. It doesn't get any better.

[@michaelolesen1909]

The obvious answer is: Karpov, this made me smile, but it correct. Which he had played a match with Fischer in 1975 which would have made him even stronger than he became.

[@gilangramanda3643]

1:04 when a 14 year old girl talking about her crush