Ben Finegold
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Benjamin Philip Finegold (born September 6, 1969) is an American
chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...
grandmaster and
YouTuber A YouTuber is an online personality and/or influencer who produces videos on the video-sharing platform YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006. Influence Influent ...
/
Twitch streamer An online streamer or live streamer is a person who broadcasts themselves online through a live stream to an audience. History Streaming arose in the early 2010s, originating on sites like YouTube where users could upload videos of themselves i ...
. He had previously been nicknamed the "strongest
International Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...
in the United States" until receiving his Grandmaster (GM) title in 2009. Finegold became a USCF Master at the age of 14, Life Master (USCF) at 15, Senior Master (USCF) at 16, International Master (
FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...
) at 20, and Grandmaster (FIDE) at 40. Finegold was recipient of the U.S. Chess Trust's Samford fellowship. In addition to filming and streaming chess topics on social media sites, he has been active in giving live tournament commentary, lectures, and writing. He was the grandmaster-in-residence of the Saint Louis Chess Club, and co-founded the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Atlanta.


Early life

Finegold was born in
Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
,
Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
, into a chess family, the son of chess master Ron Finegold and his wife Rita. He learned the rules of chess at age 5 and received his first USCF rating at age 6.
Stuart Rachels Stuart Rachels (born September 26, 1969) is an American philosopher and International Master of chess. He is the son of the philosopher James Rachels (1941–2003). He tied for first place in the 1989–90 U.S. Chess Championship. Although he is n ...
says when he was twelve he saw Ben Finegold and his father Ron hustling in a chess club at Manhattan, offering 8:1 money bets on one-minute-per-player bullet games. Finegold graduated high school in June 1986 at the age of 16. Afterward, he moved to
Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...
, to pursue chess.


Career

Finegold said he had played in hundreds of tournament games a year when he was young: "I loved chess and if I lost it did not matter to me. That's the main thing you have to do to get better at chess – if you lose hundreds of games in a row, that's OK." Finegold received the
U.S. Chess Trust The United States Chess Federation (also known as US Chess or USCF) is the governing body for chess competition in the United States and represents the U.S. in FIDE, the World Chess Federation. US Chess administers the official national Chess rat ...
's Samford fellowship in 1993. Finegold tied for first place in the 1994 (Chicago, Illinois) and 2007 (Cherry Hill, New Jersey)
U.S. Open Chess Championship The U.S. Open Championship is an open national chess championship that has been held in the United States annually since . History The tournament was originally the championship of the Western Chess Association, and was called the Western Open. I ...
s. He tied for first (and achieved a
grandmaster norm A norm in chess is a high level of performance in a chess tournament. The level of performance is typically measured in tournament performance rating above a certain threshold (for instance, 2600 for GM norm), and there is a requirement on the leve ...
) in the 2002 World Open (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), and also tied for first in the 2005 and 2008 National Open Chess Championships (Las Vegas, Nevada). 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 Championship The U.S. Chess Championship is an invitational tournament held to determine the United States chess champion. Begun as a challenge match in 1845, the U.S. Championship has been decided by tournament play for most of its long history. Since 1936, i ...
s: 1994 (Key West, Florida), 1999 (Salt Lake City, Utah), 2002 (Seattle, Washington), 2005 (La Jolla, California), 2006 (San Diego, California), 2008 (Tulsa, Oklahoma), 2010 (Saint Louis, Missouri), 2011 (Saint Louis, Missouri), and 2013 (Saint Louis, Missouri). In September 2009, he earned his third and final
grandmaster norm A norm in chess is a high level of performance in a chess tournament. The level of performance is typically measured in tournament performance rating above a certain threshold (for instance, 2600 for GM norm), and there is a requirement on the leve ...
at the SPICE Cup in
Lubbock, Texas Lubbock ( ) is the 10th-most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of government of Lubbock County. With a population of 260,993 in 2021, the city is also the 85th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the northw ...
. Finegold's USCF rating has been "as high as 2662, at which point he was neck and neck with GM
Larry Christiansen Larry Mark Christiansen (born June 27, 1956) is an American chess player of Danish ancestry. He was awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 1977. Christiansen was the U.S. champion in 1980, 1983, and 2002. He competed in the FIDE World Champ ...
for the distinction of being the highest rated American born chess player in the country." Finegold has been a live commentator at the U.S. Chess Championship, U.S. Junior Chess Championship,
Sinquefield Cup The Sinquefield Cup is an annual, invitation-only chess tournament in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, honoring Rex Sinquefield and his wife Jeanne, the founders of the Saint Louis Chess Club. Since 2015, the Sinquefield Cup has been a part of ...
, and Chess World Cup. He also frequently gave lively and often humorous instructional lectures at the
Saint Louis Chess Club The Saint Louis Chess Club (previously named the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis) is a chess venue located in the Central West End in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Opened on July 17, 2008, it contained a tournament hall and ...
(formerly the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis). He was the grandmaster-in-residence of the Saint Louis Chess Club until August 14, 2012, where he filmed a number of chess
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
videos. In 2017, Finegold and his wife Karen co-founded the
Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Atlanta The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Atlanta (CCSCATL) is a chess venue located in Roswell, Georgia. It is administered by co-founder Ben Finegold, a chess grandmaster (chess), grandmaster. History The CCSCATL was founded by Karen Boyd and her h ...
. Finegold's lectures are available on the YouTube channels of the Saint Louis Chess Club as well as the channel of the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Atlanta and on
Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle con ...
. As of 2021, Finegold streams chess five to six times a week, particularly on Twitch under the handle "GMBenjaminFinegold"; his account currently has over 121,000 followers. Highlights and clips from his Twitch streams are regularly uploaded to his Youtube channel with the same name. As of October 2022, his Youtube channel has over 110,000 subscribers. He also has a
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account, with more than 20,500 followers as of October 2022. Finegold has appeared three times as a guest on the ''Perpetual Chess Podcast'' hosted by
National Master A chess title is a title regulated by a chess governing body and bestowed upon players based on their performance and rank. Such titles are usually granted for life. The international chess governing body FIDE grants several titles, the most pre ...
Ben Johnson. In 2000, Finegold co-authored a chess book with chess master
Bob Ciaffone Bob Ciaffone (December 10, 1940 – May 13, 2022) was an American poker player, author of ''Robert's Rules of Poker''. Ciaffone finished third in the 1987 World Series of Poker (WSOP) $10,000 Betting (poker), no limit Texas hold 'em main event, ...
, titled ''
Smith–Morra Gambit In chess, the Smith–Morra Gambit (or simply Morra Gambit) is an opening gambit against the Sicilian Defence distinguished by the moves: :1. e4 c5 :2. d4 cxd4 :3. c3 White sacrifices a pawn to quickly and create attacking chances. In exc ...
Finegold Defense''.


Personal life

Finegold was a student at
Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...
. In July 1988, Finegold moved to
Brussels, Belgium Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
, with Gina Lynne LoSasso, one of the top female players in the U.S. Finegold and Gina were married in January 1989 in
Hastings, England Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west at ...
. They have a son, Spencer Finegold, who is a chess
National Master A chess title is a title regulated by a chess governing body and bestowed upon players based on their performance and rank. Such titles are usually granted for life. The international chess governing body FIDE grants several titles, the most pre ...
. He met his second wife, Kelly, on the
Internet Chess Club The Internet Chess Club (ICC) is a commercial Internet chess server devoted to the play and discussion of chess and chess variants. ICC had over 30,000 subscribing members in 2005.John Black, Martin Cochran, Martin Ryan Gardner"Lessons Learned ...
. They married in March 2001 and have a daughter, Erum. He is currently living with his third wife Karen Boyd, a chess player with a background in programming. Finegold has been a vegetarian since 1986. He became a vegan as a New Year's resolution in 2018.


References


Further reading

* "The 40-Year-Old GM", by Ben Finegold, ''
Chess Life The monthly ''Chess Life'' and bi-monthly ''Chess Life Kids'' (formerly ''School Mates'' and ''Chess Life for Kids'') are the official magazines published by the United States Chess Federation (US Chess). ''Chess Life'' is advertised as the "most ...
'', February 2010, pp. 18–25. * ''Smith–Morra Gambit Finegold Defense'' by Ben Finegold and
Bob Ciaffone Bob Ciaffone (December 10, 1940 – May 13, 2022) was an American poker player, author of ''Robert's Rules of Poker''. Ciaffone finished third in the 1987 World Series of Poker (WSOP) $10,000 Betting (poker), no limit Texas hold 'em main event, ...
,
Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...
, March 2000


External links

* * * *
Lectures with GM Ben Finegold
at the
Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Atlanta The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Atlanta (CCSCATL) is a chess venue located in Roswell, Georgia. It is administered by co-founder Ben Finegold, a chess grandmaster (chess), grandmaster. History The CCSCATL was founded by Karen Boyd and her h ...
YouTube channel
Lectures with GM Ben Finegold
at the
Saint Louis Chess Club The Saint Louis Chess Club (previously named the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis) is a chess venue located in the Central West End in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Opened on July 17, 2008, it contained a tournament hall and ...
YouTube channel * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Finegold, Ben 1969 births Living people American chess players American chess writers Chess grandmasters Sportspeople from Detroit Gaming YouTubers Twitch (service) streamers