Under 1400 Class with GM Ben Finegold 

"This is called the 'Evans Gambit,' named after your favorite grandmaster, Mr. Gambit." That made me laugh so hard

I watch so many of these lectures that I always get the opening jingle stuck in my head 🤣

Thanks Ben, my rating used to be under 1400 but then i watched this lecture. Now I can proudly tell people my rating is over 500 instead.

Sounds like a lot less than 1400 people in the class

I need an under 900 class😂 thanks Ben!

Ben wants us to be quick-witted, but I’m over here just trying to be witted

i love hearing a little kid answering after he’s talking about my elo level 😂

These lectures never get old

i play a lot of casual games with my friend and i like to jokingly complain when we play the main lines of the ruy lopez or giuoco piano (which is often) - now i'm going to say, "no don't play that move, then everybody falls asleep, then we quit chess and play snooker"😂

@12:14 "There's no grandmaster games in this position." Close. I found one: Anton Filippov vs. Erwin L'Ami at the 2014 Olympiad in Tromso. But that's great off the cuff knowledge by Finegold.

I was not expecting a Claude Shannon joke halfway into this.

I read this game in the art of the attack. And I couldn't figure out why whites back rank wasn't a weakness. Thanks for the explanation gm ben.

17:42 I get the Steve Davis reference. Go me.

So in the g5 knight attack of the Italian game two pretty solid options just because they’re hard to respond to if you don’t know them and a lot of times people over 12 or 1300 just play Bc5, and the folks who play the knight attack play it every single time they see Nf6 1st The Ulvestad variation: d5 exd5, b5. The only move to maintain advantage for white is Bf1 completely undeveloping the bishop, you will rarely see this move. If b Bb3 Nd4, and trying to tuck the bishop away because it can’t move; makes their position even worse. If instead bishop takes b5 you take back forking the bishop and g pawn with a potential fork on the rook and knight. They usually exchange the knight for the bishop. On the next move you take the bishop back. They generally castle and you play Bb7. You will win some games because they develop their knight or play d3/d4. Qf3 is their only move(and not the most popular move)to hold advantage, learn the possible lines resulting from this position, f3 is most popular move(just gives you Bc5+) and Nf3, every single other move is an on the spot easy win. The other option is the Polerio defense. After d5 exd5 you play Na5, Bb5 check like the Ulvestad is the only move to hold onto an advantage. Now the best move is c6, it is an only move situation for white again but it’s super obvious dxc6, so I recommend rather than c6 to play Bd7, which is a bit of a mistake(and a very playable one). But only if white finds Qe2, they almost always play Bxd7, twice as often as Qe2. You’re gonna take with your queen and pretty much no matter what they play you’re gonna win the pawn on d5, complete development and castle before your opponent.

32:15 I was eating, indeed. But I have finished it off.

Surely this is pure gold.. Finegold! and don't call me Shirley

Awesome video Ben!! As a beginner i find it hard to know how to prepare. It would be cool to see a video on how to prepare for tournaments and what your prep process looks like. (Do you use chessbase? Do you have a journal? Etc...)

Oh man, the Airplane reference got me

I knew Morphy was good, but Ng3 in a blindfolded simul? Holy moly.

23:19 😂

It was definitely an IBM fantastic finish by Morphy. WOW. WOW 🏀🏀🏀🏀

How about f6 instead of Be7 retreat then has the time to castle. Love that movie vector Victor! Captain Over, huh ?

I wonder if u prepped all of your jokes into the lecture! b4 what ?? Very entertaining and useful, thanks :D subbed

His point on openings and memory is exactly what Fischer was complaining when he retired. And he was absolutely right, as Ben is. It's a memory and preparation contest, not a mind contest. Sadly chess must evolve or we will have just a bot competition mimicked by humans in the future.

Hikaru Nakamura's sportsmanship award!

I read the mentioned chess book as a kid

27:09 Wasn’t Lasker champion for 27 years, not Steinitz?

do an under 400 class

Poor Trudy 🥲🤣

great lecture poor raj at the end hahaha interesting point - people that have witnessed events / players from two different eras are most qualified to assess their skill and nature

Pure Leaf Sweet Tea is delicious, good choice Ben of the Past

You're the best!

Morphy was a genius!

d4 d6 is kings gambit sstarting mov.

When "they" invented chess960. ... aka Fischerandom.

Too Bad its an old recording ^^

5:59 ....of course Ben is yet another domesticated dork.

"Trump fired General Principles" Actually he took them and he was caught

Does anyone have a link to the Fabiano Caruana interview he mentioned? I want to watch that. Great lecture as always. Also, the jokes were top notch!