The Legend: Samuel Reshevsky - GM Ben Finegold - 2015.05.14

Grandmaster Ben Finegold pays tribute to former U.S. Champion Sam Reshevsky. Finegold adds humorous stories about Reshevsky and others for an entertaining lecture.
Marvin C Palmer vs Samuel Reshevsky, Detroit (1933): E90 King's Indian, 5.Nf3
Reshevsky vs Arthur William Dake, Western Championship (1934): D62 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox defence, 7.Qc2 c5, 5.cd (Rubinstein)
Paul Keres vs Reshevsky, Semmering/Baden (1937): D29 Queen's Gambit Accepted, classical, 8...Bb7
Reshevsky vs Max Euwe, FIDE World Championship Tournament (1948): D46 Queen's Gambit Declined semi-Slav, Romih variation
Robert James Fischer vs Reshevsky, US Championship (1958/59): B35 Sicilian, accelerated fianchetto, modern variation with Bc4

[@mikejschin]

I almost got to meet Reshevsky. I was playing in a tournament in Charlotte, NC, in 1982. Reshevsky was about to give a simul and I went to watch it. Before it started, Reshevsky was standing about 10 feet away from me. Unfortunately, he was engaged in a conversation with Cedric Maxwell of the Boston Celtics. Maxwell was an avid amateur chess player as well as a basketball star. The sight was amusing, because Reshevsky was a tiny man, probably under 5 feet tall, and Maxwell was 6 feet 8 -- a David and Goliath combination. Maxwell was looking at him in awe, knowing that he was talking to a legend. Reshevsky had to break off their conversation to start the simul, so I never got a chance to approach him. The result of the simul: at age 70, Reshevsky won 38, lost 0, and drew 2.

[@Pide0piper]

Thank you so much for these lectures. They have improved my game quite a bit.

[@paulMcGlothin]

Excellent, insightful lecture by Ben. Definitely worth watching!

[@pasaltkrakan]

Finegold is great, love these lectures. Love the humor aswell

[@nicholaserabalais]

Ben Finegold lecture! What a nice birthday present!

[@RagoDN2]

"We're not going to take the character of the person into account by their chess games." Those are the words of a true scholar. Good on you for not conflating the player with their level of play.

[@shonl8460]

35:30 that rook like me is: overloaded! 😂😂😂

[@dale2222222]

awesome video, as these all are. Huge thanks for posting these. Thank you Ben too, you're hilarious

[@deanmindock5020]

Ben keeps everyone loose. He should be a late night TV host. Anyway, he is a great teacher.

[@askthepizzaguy]

The bit about dire straits at the 23 minute mark is better than anything else in this video, and I haven't even seen the entire video yet. It's like something that comes out in February being talked about as movie of the year in March.

[@sabahdeanatassi8292]

I like his video's I always like to subscribe to his video's I might take some classes from Ben finegold online!

[@Occsei]

Let me link the best joke in this one: 35:10

[@zainquadri1206]

Honestly speaking, that rook IS overloaded...!!!

[@kinderschubser92]

I LOVE BEN FINEGOLD!

[@RaidingPig]

this is gold 35:16

[@rydersonthestorm7175]

Ken West, you're the expert on this, was Dire Straits around in 1934? No? But he was in Dire Straits. Where do I sign up to be best friends with Ben Finegold?

[@kensanity178]

Can anyone tell why I'm not a member of St Louis Chess Club?

[@Boxsteam]

I also hate when my opponent keeps going back in time. Happened 9/10 games lately.

[@dannygjk]

"I learned to count on Sesame Street" LOL

[@Greenbear41]

I'm curious, when you ask, what the computer thinks, may I ask GM Finegold, "What is the name of your computer?

[@matteopriotto5131]

Tigran Petrosian is on the money too, but he wasn't yet when this lesson happened

[@Cholo8943]

Or was he?

[@Storabrost]

35:15 - LOL!

[@basedpiper1274]

16:10 'not a good choice against Reshevsky. Anybody get that?' I got that, Ben

[@mariopinot9884]

Nice.

[@johnvandenberg8883]

Didn't know Tony Soprano is a grandmaster in chess.

[@KillianDefaoite]

He's (Mike kummer) right. It happens sometimes. Hey can you go outside and check if there's a blue moon? XD

[@KARTIKEYA007]

28:00 "that's twice more than usual", the only comedic mistake I have seen Ben make... He should have said "that's 2 more than usual" to imply that it's usually 0 which is what i think he was going for. Twice as more means it's 1 usually

[@evanmaier2551]

He said after "or a number I can't understand" which is infinity. 2 is infinite times more than zero

[@kensanity178]

So let's just all think of a fairly low number, like KW's IQ.

[@averagejohnson3985]

that rook like me is... *overloaded* lol

[@Greenbear41]

Wow, Euwe is your favorite world champion? Well he was a gentlemen for sure!

[@juanjuzgadoibiza558]

I love Ben's jokes!

[@dannygjk]

The engine seemed to be set to an auto suggest mode and maybe that's why it keeps interrupting the playing forward of the game.

[@robieez2183]

31:16 😂😂

[@VincentFarrugia]

Estonia adopted the euro in 2011, way before the video came out. So no Paul Keres on the 5 kroon note :)

[@djkramnik1]

The Jonah Hill of chess

[@victorraphals-kath2097]

djkramnik That's an insult to ben

[@codypage311]

Agreed

[@fabian13333]

Why ending with a game that Reshevsky got destroyed, terrible nice lecture

[@MaximumPrime92]

WHO IS THAT JULIAN?!

[@jojojo503]

MaximumPrime92 He's just a dude that goes to the chess club. He has a 'tactical eye' as Yasser says and he seems quite strong.

[@phuckcoocle6316]

MaximumPrime92 JULIAN PROLEIKO some 1900+ guy from the club

[@gorantrevise]

MaximumPrime92 He is a legend there

[@Accomodare]

***** Yeah Julian is about as strong as a twig.

[@terrabitic7090]

Another legend.

[@MsUncleKevin]

35:17 Best joke!

[@origamicaptain5664]

Why can't white play Nf5? 10:29 Great video.

[@MainlineNovelty]

Origami Captain Because ...gxf5 and White loses his extra piece and is (roughly) five million pawns down

[@origamicaptain5664]

Mainline Novelty I was thinking that maybe after the revealed check on g7 there might be some counter play, but I guess not. Thanks Mainline.

[@JPCPSeto]

I own My 60 Memorable Games and the game Ben discussed here isn't in there at all.

[@nihilistlemon1995]

15:05 XD XD XD

[@KillianDefaoite]

37:19 Does Ra1 work for black here?

[@gaffigantootie]

Not a bad move, but the game move wins more quickly.

[@Foxhound3857]

22:44 Queen takes h4, very insulting. Much better was Offer Draw.

[@wreggioW]

8:38 lol

[@ninjagrade]

Babe ruth vid or riot!

[@Guitare_picking]

Terrible move, all my engines say so... :) Haha very funny

[@danielmanahan692]

why call reshevsky a bad guy? what is the controversy?

[@pizzashark7067]

***** He slaughtered about 500,000 hamsters for his own amusement.

[@danielmanahan692]

Pizza Shark do you have a source?

[@pizzashark7067]

***** I do hope you're not serious. Because I'm not.

[@danielmanahan692]

Pizza Shark so is there any controversy or not? or just a joke nobody gets from Ben?

[@pizzashark7067]

***** No idea.

[@benkar2039]

Qc2 is the Rubinstein move ...

[@MainlineNovelty]

26:50 "Korchnoi and Maroczy would agree" lmao

[@2phil4u]

One funny thing is (im from germany) that his running gag "Even Kane West could do this" would mean the rapper Kayne West, because south park also allways make jokes about him, but there is a player he knows well that is called "Kane west", so my thought that all american making jokes about "Kayne West" s intelligence wasnt true ;)

[@dusanmijatovic7913]

+2phil4u Ken West.

[@kensanity178]

Well, if everything you do makes you look like an unintelligent idiot, you get a rep for that.

[@jasonofathens2254]

Ben Finegold low key wants to get rid off Batman here.. I'm super glad he ended up getting rid of the penguin suit instead

[@bobfree1226]

Fischer ate him up. bobby was 15 rev was 47.

[@sheikmanzoor5003]

23:42 What's the usual ken ? You've done it many times in your career..... This guy roasts Ken West every 5 minutes 😂.

[@RonakBadhe]

why is not resigning insulting, I've only resigned once during this year during a tournament.

[@betterbelle29]

Ronak Badhe people think it's insulting for some reason. Like "You're losing just quit so I don't have to beat you". I've actually had a player get upset with me and started essentially insulting me and passive aggressively saying I was bad at chess just because I didn't resign.

[@rogerstone3068]

The implication is: "I'm two pieces down but I still think you might blunder away your advantage and I might win." You're implying that your opponent is incompetent. However, I never find it insulting if opponents do not resign; partly because I CAN very easily blunder pieces away, and partly because it challenges me to make the win solid and efficient. I think that's the approach we should all take.

[@Musicrafter12]

At the grandmaster level, it is simply not worth it to play on in some positions since you can be fairly confident that your opponent will be able to convert the win basically 100% of the time. Even at the amateur level I still resign often when I'm obviously losing and the winning plan is plain as day for my opponent, such as a pawn promotion I can't stop or something. Even at my rating, if my opponent is up a queen, I will lose 100% of the games. What's the point in wasting both of our times by playing to mate? Grandmasters usually only ever let mate appear on the board when they judge the mate to be fairly aesthetic or pretty or somehow worth seeing visually, as a courtesy to their opponent after some brilliant combination or something.

[@kensanity178]

Maybe it shows that you cannot admit that you are in a losing position, and are hoping your opponent will blunder the game away. Nothing insulting about that

[@mitchsandridge]

he kind of looks like the guy from foxcatcher lol

[@Dybbouk]

Denker, Dake, Kashdan...

[@suicide_king6804]

"He goes back in time?? Terrible."

[@SathvikRajasekaran]

18:24 subtitles lol

[@Dybbouk]

Why was Reshevsky such a dubious character?

[@ample982]

2:20 awooooo uwu

[@therottenrook]

GM Ken West, strongest GM besides Magnus.

[@alansong4754]

What???? I thought he was BETTER than Magnus!

[@alansong4754]

remember December 21st, 1211?

[@alansong4754]

H beat him, even though they weren't alive

[@alansong4754]

he

[@Matser3000]

14:58 lol

[@TheNuncFluens]

Why was Reshevsky a cheater?

[@Veaseify]

Apparently he was notorious for offering draws and then after his opponent thought for a long time before accepting he would deny that the draw offer had been made, thus gaining a big time advantage. He also lost a game on time in the 1942 US Championship to Denker but the Tournament Director (who was a friend of his) claimed it was actually Denker who had lost on time and awarded the point to Reshevsky! Some other game (I can't remember his opponent) he supposedly made a losing blunder and offered a draw while his opponent was writing the move down, which was accepted. These last two games weren't exactly cheating on Reshevsky's part but it all added to his dubious reputation.

[@notcoachfou7841]

I'm was looking around the webs trying to figure out what Finegold was talking about when he said Reshecky was twice as bad as Fischer. I expected to find stuff along the lines of Fischer's notorious antisemitic rants, but I couldn't find anything. I don't think being a chess cheat makes him twice as bad as Fischer.

[@AnthonyAllGood]

I think he meant to say that Reshevsky wasnt half as bad as Fischer, taken everything into account Fischer is still considered a legend despite all the shit he pulled so Reshevsky should be twice the legend for being half as bad. Thats how I understood it.

[@bigmac329190]

How was he a cheat?

[@yankobzykant5579]

Reshevsky was Polish

[@lolbug100]

lol...orthodox, well done :)

[@casualmajestic9223]

What is the German word? Schzhenschzhug 😂

[@ChrisHanks_ColonelOfTruth]

not a good choice against reshevsky. did anybody get that? no, nothing? anyone?"

[@klodm.2064]

The joke was that Reshevsky was a very religious Orthodox Jew so playing the "Orthodox" variation of the QGD is not the best choice against him.

[@kensanity178]

Got it.

[@rickrick5041]

Why was Reshevsky a bad person? I don't think this is true

[@rickrick5041]

Noah Where’s the proof?

[@rickrick5041]

Noah It’s part of the game if you keep playing after your flag falls but it’s not noticed. Do you have any proof of these things?

[@Icecells]

I think he is khigh :))

[@WillToWinvlog]

***** Doubt it.

[@ErossMcCloud]

DIRE STRAITS MONEY FOR NOTHING

[@SSJCornell]

I don't understand the praise Ben is getting in these comments. His jokes are terrible and distracting, his attitude is belittling, his explanations are hastey and his insights are superficial. His lectures are marginally better than Mike Kummer's. I'm sure he has a wealth of knowledge but he seems to do this half-heartedly. I guess not everyone has a knack for teaching like Yasser and Aviv. Alejandro and Varuzhan are also top lecturers.

[@sooooooooDark]

+SSJCornell u said "terrible" thats suspicious

[@emailjwr]

I hear you and have had similar thoughts. yet I've watched so many of bens lectures. I honestly think most people watch them because they're more entertaining than the (likely more practically useful) 20-min lectures available on other channels. for whatever reason I don't find his belittling humour to be off-putting. I think his general wealth of knowledge and jokes makes it worth it.

[@MTC12345678912345678]

i can explain it to you there are people with a different opinion than yours :oooooooo they actually think his jokes are not terrible and distracting but funnyand they also disagree with the other stuff you said i know it's mindblowing right?

[@ThhVkk]

SSJCornell I actually often remembered advice that he gave in my games. I guess it's easy to remember stuff when it's funny.

[@DreamyBongos]

PUT IT IN FUCKING H YOU PIECE OF CRAP

[@inkspot9572]

His lectures would be so much better if he could go 10 seconds without making a joke. Once you notice it, which is hard not to, it becomes a distraction. Plus they aren't funny and makes you wonder if this guy has serious self-esteem issues.

[@panagiotc]

ink spot of place.

[@panagiotc]

ink spotHis jokes are not always bad, but I have to agree with you, most of the time are distracting and out of place.

[@rkadeon3295]

ink spot I come here for Finegold's cheeky quips and downright awesomeness. He's the best thing that's ever happened to chess lectures. One does not simply mock his presence...

[@inkspot9572]

peffiSC2source I don't.

[@simonenoli4418]

the jokes are meant to be unfunny. its a way to digress from the straight up analysis you get evaluating positions through stockfish and bad quips and puns don't antagonize the crowd (awesome quips are hard finds and tend to challenge the audience and thats distracting for me) honestly they help me focus because they dont overload me with 70k variations one guy a day a thousand years ago played and drew. he shows main strategic ideas and tactics and colour it with anecdotes that does great with my associative memory. not for everyone... but who is.