The Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack: Lecture with GM Ben Finegold

[@ianmoore5502]

The first 7:10 minutes of this lecture are a golden nugget in not just B3 philosophy, but opening philosophy in general. Such a gem. Thank you, Ben

[@IsaacOtto]

Good God -- a Mighty Nein shirt... Strange worlds colliding -- further proof Ben Finegold is a fever dream generated by the final burst of DMT released by my pineal gland on my deathbed.

[@12jswilson]

RIP, King

[@willzmath]

You are not a Hagfish!

[@NikitaGrygoryev]

I was so stunned by the t-shirt, I had to rewatch about a minute.

[@StephenWhite55]

This might be the greatest KZbin comment I've ever read - Bravo! Now, R.I.P. ...

[@f.d.3289]

One thing I really love about that guy is that he clearly listens to a lot of great music and watches a lot of great movies, often quoting lyrics or dialogue. He comes across as a pretty normal weirdo compared to most of the other chess weirdos. I can imagine playing a game with him or just having a talk and not feel completely uneasy, like I'd probably do with Gotham or some others.

[@DarkTendoux]

My favorite opening by my favorite grandmaster!

[@ianrust3785]

Wesley So also has a chessable course on b3 and calls it his 'secret weapon'

[@relaxstation1871]

That pulp fiction reference was pure genius!! I haven’t blared out a laugh like that in a while.

[@GeorgeSmyth]

Well done! You are right - when I was playing this in the late 1970s the only way I could learn it was to get tournament books where Larsen played.

[@r.mcdonnell8614]

I care about Nimzowitsch. I have gotten some confused looks when I played a good constricting game and said "Nimzowitsch would be proud," so maybe not everyone does though :(

[@12jswilson]

The parody game of The Immortal Overprotection game is pretty gold. Pretty sure Agadmator has a video on it. Constructed by one of Nimzowitsch's contemporaries to poke fun at him

[@r.mcdonnell8614]

@@12jswilson yes, Hans Kmoch (who is different from Hans Moke) was a friend of Nimzowitsch's who did it as a little prank to get back at Nimzowitsch for showing up to a tournament that the Queen was supposed to attend wearing nothing but a towel And yeah I've watched that Agadmator video and gone through the annotations of the composition more times than I would like to admit Also as a beginner myself around the 1270 rating range, I think it's kinda good to look at Nimzowitsch's games since beginners like me think of all attacking and sacrificing and rawr and etcetera (but mostly etcetera) and Nimzowitsch shows that positional chess can be cool too

[@3-methylindole730]

The Italian word “fianchetto” (pronounced “fianketto”) means little flank, and stems from “fianco”. This Italian word nicely encapsulates the role the bishop plays on the side(s), offering quick, aggressive development on the board and strategically interesting outlooks / outcomes for the ongoing chess battle.

[@johnpetkos5686]

I love your humor! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Your content is both very educating and hilarious at the same time! 👏👏👏🤘

[@ReflectionOcean]

By YouSum Live 00:00:10 Larson's opening: Unconventional, aggressive, and strategic. 00:00:23 Nimsovich Larson attack: Uncommon, dynamic, and disruptive. 00:01:44 B3 opening strategy: Challenging opponent's preparation, seeking unique positions. 00:02:01 Larson's legacy: Pioneer of B3, influencing modern players like Nakamura. 00:04:04 Individual style: Preferring unusual openings over theoretical lines. 00:05:12 Strategic diversity: Avoiding mainstream theory for creative gameplay. 00:06:23 Personal preference: Advocating for playing what you enjoy, not just theory. 00:17:50 Larson's tactical brilliance: Sacrificing pieces for aggressive attacks. 00:21:26 Chess player ratings and complaints. 00:22:14 Joe Bava's rating decline from 2700 to 2500. 00:22:44 Speculation on factors affecting Joe Bava's skill. 00:23:00 Unconventional and speculative playstyle of Joe Bava. 00:23:33 Strategic sacrifice of two bishops for center control. 00:23:53 Aggressive and energetic gameplay by Mamajarov. 00:25:56 Unconventional move King F1 instead of castling. 00:26:06 Tactical considerations to prevent Knight D5. 00:30:35 Brilliant move Queen D1 leading to a winning position. 00:33:51 Importance of retreat moves like Queen D1. 00:35:04 Strategic sacrifices and checkmate threats. 00:36:03 Notable game featuring unconventional opening B3. 00:42:51 Larson's risky play and subsequent defeat. 00:43:56 Fischer's historical rivalry with Spassky. 00:45:55 Secret opening preparation with A6. 00:47:58 Importance of piece activity over color. 00:48:00 Strategic use of opposite color bishops. 00:48:02 Dominating the board with multi-sided attacks. 00:50:01 Utilizing rooks effectively for attack. 00:53:17 Tactical sacrifice with Bishop takes F7. 00:55:36 Positional play leading to opponent's mistakes. By YouSum Live

[@bryanq4499]

B3 is the only opening I play with since I was like 500. Your video only convinced me to be even more chaotic.

[@justsomeboyprobablydressed9579]

That lecture was so good it should be illegal.

[@tylerbrown9631]

I love Grandmaster Ben Finegold's (showing proper respect) sense of humor.

[@cho4d]

everything from minute 6:00is soooo true! my brother thinks i am playing "meme" openings because i don't play 1e4 or 1d4. then he gets extremely upset because he loses to "meme" openings and he's higher rated than me and plays "proper" openings. i'm just like... playing the game trying to make good moves, have fun and avoiding the need to learn a ton of boring theory.

[@zanti4132]

The slaughter versus Spassky notwithstanding, Larsen had very good results with 1. b3 in the early 1970s. The high point was probably Teesside, 1972, when he played the opening six times and won all six. He won that tournament with an 11-4 score, his only loss coming in the last round when he had already clinched first place.

[@devintarr]

These are my favorite lectures of yours Ben :) The historical analysis/games are your best stuff!

[@f.d.3289]

7:20 "Errrrrrrrrrrr let's see. Where... where am I? Oh I'm sitting right here! Perfect!" xD Another fine gold moment.

[@althompson3085]

Saw you at Las Vegas this year. Enjoying this video. I played against it yesterday.

[@rogerstone3068]

11:08 "You couldn't buy ANY books on chess openings" - Oh yes you could. Harry Golombek, 'Playing the Black Pieces' and 'Playing the White Pieces' were good. If I'd had a memory that worked, I would have found them really useful.

[@Kommaer]

Mister GM Benjamin Finegold is the finest gold for the chess lessons!

[@viresv5701]

Man I love your approach to teaching. Subbed.

[@chadmacgargle5311]

That's a Finegold game to remember

[@theDelinquenC]

I DEMAND to be heard from 4 days in the future...

[@robertjamesrafael4686]

I saw Queen to d1 as a winning move on Jobava vs Mamedyarov game without using engine and Im very happy about it. However it took me more than 10 mins to figure it out and thats what made me sad. Nice youtube lesson again from you at keep it up

[@mynameischess230]

Fifth, LOL, I read " My System" by Aron Nizmovitch it's a great book and Nimzo is quite a weirdo

[@fredgandolfi2356]

Mamedyarov reminds me of Ivanchuk. Joyful chess. Thanks Ben for the game selection.

[@IOP121]

I’m totally agree! Mate is a good move!

[@666nevermore]

Man no cap these Ben lecture intros are a banger

[@danielcrase]

This lecture was good, hella energy 🤝

[@johnathanhust4587]

"You calculated it after I showed you" hahahaha!! So true

[@girardip]

Youre such a great teacher

[@flstudent2928]

Thanks maestro Ben!

[@michelpetrus]

Lecture so good, I need to donate to the Atlanta chess club.

[@Yea___]

I just realized ben uses the same intro music as the Classical Stuff You Should Know podcast. They also talk about philosophy sometimes

[@travischampagne3252]

I would like to see a lecture on jobava he is a underrated GM.

[@flstudent2928]

Thanks!

[@Solarsinato]

You are my fav chess player Ben!!

[@michaellauer8181]

my favorite chess opening and a might nein shirt. the dream!

[@Shelmerdine745]

I think Radjabov introduced the “modern” version of the Nf3-b3 system. At least I saw him playing it regularly before any of the other super GMs.

[@andrew_owens7680]

Outside of tournaments, I believe you should occasionally play to your weaknesses. I learned the HARD way not to play those theoretical openings because I didn't have the tactical chops to stay out of trouble. I switched to Kings Gambit and Scandi as black and my tactics got much better. It's time I analyze my lost games and switch to other openings to exercise my weaknesses.

[@MrCupidd]

When you tried to remember Berlin defense you hit a wall

[@MarcHeuer]

Qd1 in the Jobava game is epic

[@951genni]

A lecture every week for the next 6!

[@justsomeboyprobablydressed9579]

When Mamedyarov played hg, he must have had a time machine that he used to travel to the last game in the lecture where Ben's opponent played hg.

[@franciscomanuellopezlopez763]

36:00 after queen D1, d5 defends against Qa1, if Qa1, d4 and black should be safe

[@hideehere]

Ben telling me to play what I want and I like so from now on I'm playing 1. f3, straight out of theory

[@amadeusoliveira9846]

😂

[@pikipxx]

you are really funny person, i enjoyed watching this video, very nice intro

[@seanyager3177]

Ive heard of (not to mention used + won with) the Kings Fianchetto opening, But not the Queen's

[@timothyryan3031]

I used to play this opening when I first started playing chess, and just hyper-focus all my efforts on getting the rook on h8, so I could say "Haha, I'm so smart, I got his rook, I'm up material, I'm going to win!" Which is, obviously, not how you play chess. But I thought I was a genius!

[@justsomeboyprobablydressed9579]

Same here. A friend of mine and I learned to play chess after reading the poorly written instructions that came with one of those cheap plastic sets with a black and red board. It took us weeks to figure out that we could fianchetto our bishops. Then it took us weeks to stop losing our rooks to those fianchettoed bishops. We had no idea what chess was. This was before the internet, and it didn't dawn on us that someone might have written a book about chess. I mean, there were no books on parcheesi.

[@Heroball299]

@@justsomeboyprobablydressed9579 Yeah same, when I started playing with my friends we'd always be "fried Livering" each other every game. Either nf2 fork or nf7 fork, it always seemed so impossible to stop.

[@michelcharbonnier7603]

"I would come in more last" - GM Ben Finegold.

[@5milemacc737]

Queen D1 vs Shak from Jobava was crazy

[@chadmacgargle5311]

Rev. John Owen's, We call it the Owen's attack. After it's inventor, Owen's.

[@zanti4132]

The Owen's Defense is 1. e4 b6, i.e. Black is the player fianchettoing the queen bishop, so not the same. I recall that for a time 1. b3 was being called the Baby Orangutan, but apparently that fell out of fashion.

[@chadmacgargle5311]

@@zanti4132 it can be played from either side. Henry Bird features it in his book as an experimental opening. Call it whatever you want.

[@chadmacgargle5311]

@Zanti if you went to the 1866 international chess congress and asked, "What's it called when I play 1.b3?" They would have answered Queens Knight Pawn Game or simply Fianchetto. Baby Orangutan... listen to yourself for God's sake

[@zanti4132]

@@chadmacgargle5311 Chess Life & Review, November, 1972, page 695: Larsen annotates his game vs Cafferty and calls the 1. b3 opening the Baby Orangutan. Maybe he was just being cute. It looks like the Orangutan (1. b4), but the pawn stopped short.

[@synesthetically]

Which game commentary does Komarov say, "two bishops, what else?"

[@dannygjk]

Some of the 1.b3 lines comprise Larson's Zoom 007 system.

[@_v2.0]

What is that? It doesn't pop up on Google.

[@markulrik960]

Hmm, that book examines Grunfeld structures with d4/Nf3/g3 or d5/Nf6/g6, not so much b3. And it's Larsen with an e.

[@_v2.0]

@@markulrik960 Good to know, thx

[@dannygjk]

@@_v2.0 That's strange because he actually wrote a book on it.

[@dannygjk]

@@markulrik960 Yeah I knew his spelling but I rushed out my comment didn't check it. So no b3 lines? It was over 30 years ago I found the book in a library.

[@trout3685]

Youre a blessing

[@chadmacgargle5311]

In the style of youth!! -Nimzowitsch

[@dannyschelpe9227]

A fine sense of humour combined with some good basic opening advice

[@andrewbuchan6122]

The most important part of the video for me was at 6:00, as I've experienced this very thing.

[@robertberger8981]

very good

[@aluminiumknight4038]

Svetozar Gligoric is the most badass chess name

[@XCeazyX]

why are chess lectures appearing on my chess drama channel?

[@msislam6751]

Sir, can you make a lecture on the classical variation? It would be quite helpful for all of us.

[@Brainsucker92]

30:58 if black played Kg8, then Rg7+ would be possible, because of the same fork that prevents the king from goinng to f8. So Kf6 is more or less the only move in that position. But if black actually played Kg8 and white goes for that line: 1. Rg7+ Kxg7 2. Ne6+ Kf6 3. Nxg5 Kxg5, then white is left with 'only' a rook and a queen against two rooks and a knight. But should still be winning for white, especially when you see the very nice move Rxd6 after the king took on g5. Also after Kg8, the move Qh3 that Ben recommended is probably stronger than all the fancy stuff I just pointed out.

[@jandehn7288]

any good books about larsen?

[@buffalodebill1976]

@36:40 - round 2 🙂

[@95harshjoshi]

"Whats thats stupid Opening ahhh.. Berlin" - Ben Fingold 😂

[@emilebastien1210]

Qd1?

[@bjorneriksson6480]

1. b3.. How can this be an attack?

[@survivaloftheidiots6239]

that marvel joke was something else

[@keyboard_toucher]

41:15 Engine calls this position -13 and prefers to start with ... Bxe3!! and then have white simply give up the rook with Qc3, later taking on f5 and playing Qxg7 to prepare to win black's new queen. Black is still up a queen at the end of it all. A human would resign before playing like that as white. The problem with white accepting the bishop sacrifice with dxe3 is that after the line ... Rh1 Rxh1 g2 Rg1, ... Qh4 is now just checkmate. (The pawn covers f1 and the rook on d1 covers the entire d file thanks to the bishop sac.)

[@alfredMonty]

I'm quickly muting my microphone

[@anonymousAJ]

I like when my pieces are active and my opponent's pieces not active

[@juhonieminen4219]

Jobava's rating went down after he started getting royalties from inventing the Jobava-London. Now he is too rich to care.

[@edwardjanuary1259]

What is Jobavas_London and what's special about the name's of players?

[@12jswilson]

@@edwardjanuary1259 it's the London but with Nc3. 1. d4 2. Bf4 3. Nc3 is the normal way to get there but you can transpose. Regular London usually has the night go to d2 and much later on. Openings are often named after the players that invented or popularized them. Sicilian Najdorf named after Miguel Najdorf. The title of this video obviously referring to the opening popularized by Aron Nimzowitsch and Bent Larsen. I believe Baadur Jobava has created courses for his opening too

[@edwardjanuary1259]

@@douglaslegvold9215 they didn't mention that in his Wikipedia article

[@travischampagne3252]

I love the jobava London one of my top openings for white. I don’t think he is getting paid for that opening though.

[@juhonieminen4219]

@@travischampagne3252 No, he is not getting paid. It was a joke.

[@ronnielaw9318]

You may be a GM Ben, but you don't know me. How dare you. I'll have you know I didn't even calculate it AFTER you showed it to me.

[@amadeusoliveira9846]

🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@jinjocat]

Ha, I certainly have heard of Brian Eley, but then I was playing chess in England around the same time. Very shady character. Very.

[@zanti4132]

Yes, Eley is undoubtedly the most infamous UK chess champion, having been accused of 30 counts of sexual abuse to minors. When he was arrested for one such instance in 1991, Eley jumped bail and when into hiding. He remained a fugitive for the rest of his life, if, in fact, he has died by now. It has been reported that he died in Amsterdam in April, 2022, and there is a gravestone with his name on it, but that story and the authenticity of the tombstone is disputed.

[@scarsnstuff]

17:15 if you wanted to sum up finegold in one moment lol xd

[@wompastompa3692]

13:33 Black has ze two beeshups, but white has ze vat els.

[@RayT70]

Relatively strongest for black is 1. b3 e5 2. Bb2 Nc6 3. e3 d5 4. Bb5 Bd6. If 5. f4 Qh4+ 6. g3 Qe7 7. Nf3 f6 or just 5. Nf3 f6 This is the reason I don't play 1. b3.

[@sbwells01]

1.b3 cowboys represent!

[@vigilante8374]

Why is Ben mispronouncing "fianchetto"? He didn't used to do that. I'm confused. Did he lose a bet or something?

[@justsomeboyprobablydressed9579]

Sometimes people purposely mispronounce foreign words as if they are English words. Did you ever hear Seirawan talk about "Michael" Tal? I don't know why people do this, but it seems socially acceptable. I once gave a lecture on the German mathematician Georg Cantor, and pronounced it "Gay-org." I was pretty sure of my pronunciation (approximately). But there was a German mathematician in my audience who got irritated and told me to pronounce it like "George." He said I was American and should stop being pretentious.

[@vigilante8374]

@@justsomeboyprobablydressed9579 Yeah I'm not passing judgement one way or another, but I've had Ben on my playlist for like 5 years now and I'm 99% sure he used to pronounce 'fianchetto' correctly. I notice when people don't. (I don't recall Yasser mentioning "Michael" Tal but I do remember him talking about the Perk defence.)

[@justsomeboyprobablydressed9579]

@@vigilante8374 Yeah, another great example. I've heard Seirawan pronounce it "Perk" and "Peertz." Maybe it depends on mood, audience, and what you've heard people say last. Or maybe Ben _did_ lose a bet.

[@rogerstone3068]

I thought either pronunciation was acceptable, and both are widely used.

[@rogerstone3068]

@@justsomeboyprobablydressed9579 Is that a Donovan reference?

[@thomashallundbk3735]

i JUST paused critical role to watch this and its 23 mins into the vid before i notice whats on his t-shirt. i think this is also why im bad a chess

[@fsr1960]

Why does it say "ROSWELL" over the title of the course? Did you broadcast this course from aboard a UFO? Oh, maybe you were in Roswell, Georgia (not New Mexico).

[@12jswilson]

You're correct the second time. Roswell is an Atlanta suburb

[@f.d.3289]

Strange: I never liked kingside fianchetto but I always like queenside fianchetto. Recently I've been thinking that maybe I should try out 1.b3, and here's my favourite lovely chess weirdo saying that he's a b3 guy.

[@lorenzozorrer]

I am the complete opposite. But it is hard to find some 1. g3 content without it being King's Indian Attack or a English Transposition. It has a big lack in unique territory

[@captainmurphy4720]

HELLO FROM THE FUTURE

[@pukulu]

Spassky punished Larsen many times during their rivalry. Henry Bird did better against Joseph Henry Blackburne than Larsen did against Boris Spassky, and Bird did poorly against Blackburne.

[@whisky_cat]

7:20

[@Eidenhoek]

I will live and die by 1. c3 2. d4 dang it.

[@bobbyfischer6786]

I didnt know FRASIER was so good at chess?

[@mateah83]

Benjamir is right lol Baduur Joint-Baba is a cool name

[@andrew_owens7680]

God, I wasted so much time in the 70s studying Ruy Lopez and Sicilian. I never had a coach and I wish I had. I lost and lost and lost.

[@cliffmcnamara6266]

Hey I actually play this!

[@luxwutang]

The Mighty NEIN!

[@bryanq4499]

Finegold: Now, He's like 500 in the world. Terrible. Me: LOL. (Number 4, 4027,467 (estimate))

[@MrCupidd]

They had car engines

[@howardgraff4084]

This video is not for me. I'm a Super GM because I said so! So there Ben!

[@hasb826]

🙏🙏🙏💖💖💖

[@mrhomevideo314]

Still groaning in pain from the "dc marvel" joke.

[@sameash3153]

Based

[@SelfReflective]

What's wrong with Ben? His analysis @09:36 is frankly, terrible. After White moves his bishop to d3, Black plays e4 and the bishop is trapped.

[@muradnnolaki6788]

Nope! Bxf6!

[@justsomeboyprobablydressed9579]

@@muradnnolaki6788 Also, Ben was in hand-waving mode.

[@SelfReflective]

@@muradnnolaki6788 Bravo, you are correct.

[@tyrellwreleck4226]

Your comment is so bad, youtube shouldn't allowed it to be posted

[@SelfReflective]

@@tyrellwreleck4226 I at least tried, and made a mistake. How many others didn't even see the problem? Ben should have explained why e4 is a non-starter, it's not so obvious.

[@arnislapsa1619]

I'm drinking Perrier