Ben Finegold

Benjamin Finegold
Ben Finegold
Ben Finegold, Las Vegas 2009
Full name Benjamin Finegold
Country United States
Title Grandmaster
FIDE rating 2487 (October 2018)
Peak rating 2591 (2009)

Ben Finegold (born September 6, 1969 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American chess Grandmaster.

Finegold was born into a chess family, the son of chess master Ron Finegold and his wife Rita. He became a USCF Master at the age of 14. He became a Life Master at 15, Senior Master at 16, International Master at 20 and a Grandmaster at 40.

Finegold tied for first place in the 1994 (Chicago, IL) and 2007 (Cherry Hill, NJ) U.S. Open Chess Championships. He tied for first (and achieved a Grandmaster norm) in the 2002 World Open (Philadelphia, PA), and also tied for first in the 2005 and 2008 National Open Chess Championships (Las Vegas, NV). He was ranked as one of the top 40 players in the United States on the August 2013 USCF rating list. Finegold has played in nine U.S. Chess Championships: 1994 (Key West, FL), 1999 (Salt Lake City, UT), 2002 (Seattle, WA), 2005 (La Jolla, CA), 2006 (San Diego, CA), 2008 (Tulsa, OK), 2010 (Saint Louis, MO), 2011 (Saint Louis, MO), 2013 (Saint Louis, MO).

In September 2009 he earned the Grandmaster title. He was the Grandmaster-in-residence of the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis until August 14, 2012, where he filmed a number of chess YouTube videos.

He has been a live commentator at the US Chess Championship, US Junior Chess Championship and Sinquefield Cup, and he frequently gives lively and often humorous instructional lectures at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.[1][2] Finegold's lectures are available on the YouTube channel of the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. He is a co-founder of the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Atlanta and currently resides in the area.

Finegold's videos are known for their humour, which focus around various catchphrases and pop-culture references. Many of his catchphrases are also instructional to aid his students in learning key practices, or assist in noticing/recognising "suspicious" patterns of play.

Further reading

  • "The 40-Year-Old GM", by Ben Finegold, Chess Life, February 2010, pp. 18–25.

References

  1. ↑ "Benoni, Benko Gambit, Nimzo Indian - GM Ben Finegold - 2014.01.26". YouTube.com. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
  2. ↑ "Opening Traps and Loose Pieces with GM Ben Finegold". Retrieved July 23, 2018.
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