Great Swindles!
How do you go from +1 to -25 in only one move? You play your nemesis! GM Finegold shows off three interesting blunders,...
Blundering With Ben Finegold!
Blunders are not like fine wine - they don't get better with age. But don't tell GM Finegold that! He eagerly shows off...
Beating Your Nemesis: QGD with Qd2!
Why play the main line when you can instead play a perfectly reasonable move that confused your opponent? GM Finegold is...
Quick Wins With Larsen's Opening!
Newly-minted Staff Member Ben Finegold is on the payroll but he works for you! Today his first assignment was to show off...
March Madness! - Part 2
GM Finegold admits to struggling against the ...a6 Slav, but here he finds a move order that works for him. Later, the Greek...
March Madness! - Part 1
So you want to complicate the position against a lower-rated player? GM Finegold plays what he thinks is an unorthodox setup...
My Favorite Players: Vassily Ivanchuk
In between a Salov and an MVL you have an Ivanchuk, who's actually a player that has spanned several generations. GM Finegold...
My Favorite Players: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
MVL is GM Finegold's MVP! According to our author, he has faith in his ideas and loves to attack. In the opening game, the...
My Favorite Players: Valery Salov
By now you probably know about GM Finegold's crush on Paul Morphy. But how about the lesser-known, formerly top-10 GM Valery...
Beating Your Nemesis: The Grünfeld
"I'm up a piece, with compensation!" That's a pleasant situation to be in, as you might guess. GM Finegold shows you how...
Beating Your Nemesis: The Berlin Wall
The author Joseph Heller told us what the term "Catch 22" meant - a situation with no good outcomes. Today GM Finegold shows...
Beating Your Nemesis: The Chigorin
Three games in 15 minutes! The Chigorin is spicier than a chili pepper. GM Finegold shows how he uses this occasional weapon...
Beating Your Nemesis: The Nimzo-Indian
Things that make GM Finegold happy: 1) Active pieces; 2) The Qc2 Variation of the Nimzo-Indian; 3) Killer rooks that move...
Beating Your Nemesis: The King's Indian
We continue with our "theme" of pet lines in the King's Indian, but this time it's White's turn to surprise. GM Finegold...
Winning With Opposite Colored Bishops! – Part 3
You can hear it in his voice. GM Finegold loves the unpredictable - namely when a seemingly drawn OCB ending turns out to...
Winning With Opposite Colored Bishops! – Part 2
In part 2 of GM Finegold's series, he has a trick that even Houdini can't perform - neither Harry nor the silicon version!...
Winning With Opposite Colored Bishops! – Part 1
GM Finegold is back with his usual mix of humor and insight. He even makes seemingly lifeless endgames fun to watch! Today...
Back in the Day With Ben! - Part 3
GM Finegold caps off his career-best tournament by showing his game against world champion runner-up GM Boris Gelfand. Though...
Back in the Day With Ben! - Part 2
GM Sosonko is from Troitsk, but it's GM Finegold who acts like Troitsky in this study-like game from his youth. Though only...
Back in the Day With Ben! - Part 1
The scene: Amsterdam, 1989. A grandmaster-in-waiting cuts his teeth against some of Europe's best players. Our protagonist?...
Playing with Material Imbalances - Part 2
GM Ben Finegold sacrifices the exchange again in another brilliant combination. He channels his inner 19th-century persona...
Playing with Material Imbalances - Part 1
When asked by a group of top juniors for one of his best games, GM Ben Finegold only had to go back a few weeks in his memory...
How to Beat a Strong Opponent - Attack with Force
In his best game from one of his best tournaments ever, the witty GM Ben Finegold shows off a very pleasing attack on a...
US Chess League: A Crushing Debut!
Grandmaster Ben Finegold continues his series on "GM Level Preparation" with a video that reviews a case of accidental preparation....
World Champ Prep Equals World Class Victory!
To bring his short series on high level chess preparation to a close (for now), GM Finegold reviews a game from the highest...