Finegold Chess

Ben's New Blog

2010-01-05T22:09:00.005-05:00

Ben has started his new blog at work, called Musings of a Grandmaster. As a consequence, this blog (the one you are reading) will no longer be updated.

Check out his new blog:

http://www.saintlouischessclub.org/bens-blog

Article about Ben's Biography

2010-01-04T18:58:00.003-05:00

Grandmaster Ben Finegold learned the rules of chess at age 5 and received his first USCF rating at age 6. It wasn't long, around his mid-teens, until he realized he wanted to play chess professionally. GM Finegold's first major tournament win came in 1989 when he finished in a first-place tie at the U.S. Junior Closed Championship. Also in 1989, Finegold scored his biggest victory to date with a win against Boris Gelfand at the Euwe Memorial tournament in Amsterdam, Holland.

According to Finegold, this was the most famous player he had beaten at the time, and the fact that it was a Swiss tournament and he was unable to prepare for Gelfand specifically made the win that much more exciting. Finegold said he played an excellent tactical game to secure the victory. He obtained his first IM norm at the event, gained 40 FIDE points and eventually earned the title of International Master in 1990.

In 1991 Finegold won his first major, international, Swiss-paired tournament in Antwerp, Belgium. He was just 21 years old. From 1988 to 1992 Finegold lived in Brussels, Belgium. He returned to the U.S. in 1992 and, in 1993, was awarded the Samford Chess Fellowship.

The Samford Chess Fellowship is awarded each year to the most talented chess player in the United States under the age of 26. At that time, the fellowship gave Finegold a $1,200 per month stipend and also paid for all things chess related. During that time, he worked with Gregory Kaidanov, played in a number of strong tournaments, and began utilizing chess software on is computer to improve his game.

"I wanted to hone my proclivities," Finegold said.

In 1994, Finegold finished in a six-way tie for first place at the U.S Open in Chicago, and then in 2002 he finished in a first-place tie with eight players at the World Open in Philadelphia where he secured his first GM norm. He won the Chicago Spring Invitational in 2005 to earn his second GM norm, and just this year, Finegold achieved his third GM norm at the 2009 Spice Cup Chess Festival in Lubbock, Texas.

Finegold's favorite player is Paul Morphy. He said Morphy was ahead of his time, more so even than those who have come after him. According to Finegold, Morphy attacked well, which was the style at the time, but he was also very accurate and played winning positions quite well.

"Someone who played so well and calculated so accurately before books and computers were common is just amazing," Finegold said. "He was so much better than the other players; it's very impressive."

In January, Finegold became the GM-in-residence full time at the CCSCSL.

Be on the lookout for special lectures, lessons and Web videos with Grandmaster game analysis.

Sources:

Ben Featured on Chess Talk

2009-12-16T11:43:00.002-05:00

This week (Tue., 15 December) joining IM John Watson on Chess Talk will be GM Ben Finegold, America's latest addition to the ranks of grandmaster. Note: A 10 min free preview that can be published by all http://webcast.chessclub.com/preview/Watson/2009_12_15/Watson_preview.html

Life certainly begins at 40 for Ben Finegold, who, after years of trying and being ranked as one of the most experienced IM in the US, has now finally become a GM! Ben is also set for for a career-move away from his normal habitat of Michigan to the burgeoning American chess mecca at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis, where next month he takes up a new post there as their Grandmaster-in-residence. He's also no stranger to Chess.FM, with recent stints commentating with WGM Jennifer Shahade during the USCL Final and the U.S. Women's Championship in St. Louis.

Michigan Action Final Standings

2009-12-12T20:10:00.002-05:00

Atulya won on tiebreaks. He probably made master this event as well.

#	Name	Rtng	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Rd 6	Tot
1	Atulya Shetty	2148	W26	W32	D4	W8	W5	W3	5.5
2	Mickey Maloy	2102	W23	W35	W14	D3	W13	W7	5.5
3	Ameer Ghobrial	2147	W45	W19	W7	D2	W4	L1	4.5
4	Jack Wood	2047	W38	W16	D1	W22	L3	W13	4.5
5	Manis Davidovich	2136	W28	W24	W9	D13	L1	W15	4.5
6	Ariel Levi	2193	W36	L9	D37	W21	W10	W12	4.5
7	Tim Moroney	2018	W30	W10	L3	W35	W19	L2	4.0
8	Demarcus Berry	1653	H---	W18	W17	L1	W16	D14	4.0
9	William Rhee	2005	W29	W6	L5	L20	W21	W19	4.0
10	Joseph Paris	1593	W44	L7	W30	W11	L6	W24	4.0
11	Jeff Aldrich	1904	W31	L14	W26	L10	W23	W20	4.0
12	Jennifer Skidmore	1945	W41	L13	W36	W37	W20	L6	4.0
13	John Brooks	2198	W15	W12	W22	D5	L2	L4	3.5
14	Robert O'Donnell	2164	W27	W11	L2	L19	W37	D8	3.5
15	Xiao Xiang Zhong	1529	L13	D41	W18	W17	W32	L5	3.5
16	Scott Faust	1565	W46	L4	W25	D32	L8	W27	3.5
17	Ken Long	1717	H---	W34	L8	L15	W42	W25	3.5
18	Jeffery Zhang	1201	H---	L8	L15	W43	W34	W35	3.5
19	Kayeen Kemp	1717	W25	L3	W28	W14	L7	L9	3.0
20	Oleg Tsodikov	1700	W33	L22	W23	W9	L12	L11	3.0
21	Jaron Marshall	1311	L22	W33	W24	L6	L9	W37	3.0
22	Robert Ciaffone	2116	W21	W20	L13	L4	W28	U---	3.0
23	Sidnei Austin	1242	L2	W40	L20	W39	L11	W36	3.0
24	Tim Kuhn	1736	W39	L5	L21	W42	W38	L10	3.0
25	Jinhui Liao	865	L19	W45	L16	W31	W35	L17	3.0
26	Michael Shi	1389	L1	W43	L11	D29	H---	W38	3.0
27	Jalen Wang	1444	L14	W31	L32	D30	W29	L16	2.5
28	Shangbo Liao	1350	L5	W39	L19	W45	L22	D31	2.5
29	Shaumik Baki	1168	L9	L36	W33	D26	L27	W42	2.5
30	Andrew Zheng	1179	L7	W44	L10	D27	L36	W41	2.5
31	Jordan Candie	948	L11	L27	W44	L25	W40	D28	2.5
32	Spencer Finegold	1931	W43	L1	W27	D16	L15	U---	2.5
33	Gary J Payne	266	L20	L21	L29	D40	W43	W44	2.5
34	Cody Jones	1219	H---	L17	L42	W41	L18	W39	2.5
35	Anthony Bee	1700	W40	L2	W38	L7	L25	L18	2.0
36	Nathan Metcalf	1498	L6	W29	L12	L38	W30	L23	2.0
37	Edward Song	1637	H---	W42	D6	L12	L14	L21	2.0
38	Harjot Mann	1239	L4	W46	L35	W36	L24	L26	2.0
39	Xiao Xuan Zhong	893	L24	L28	W46	L23	W45	L34	2.0
40	Jim O'Neil	792	L35	L23	H---	D33	L31	W46	2.0
41	Arnold Thomas	1105	L12	D15	L45	L34	W44	L30	1.5
42	John Z Zhang	1201	H---	L37	W34	L24	L17	L29	1.5
43	Brandon O'Neil	968	L32	L26	H---	L18	L33	B---	1.5
44	Anthony Liao	139	L10	L30	L31	W46	L41	L33	1.0
45	Ed Mandell	1365	L3	L25	W41	L28	L39	U---	1.0
46	Michael Aldrich	114	L16	L38	L39	L44	B---	L40	1.0

2009 Michigan Action

2009-12-12T20:01:00.001-05:00

I am directing the 2009 MI Action Champs. There are 45 players. We are going to have the St Louis / GM Party between rounds 5 and 6. Also, today is Jennifer Skidmore's birthday!

Here is the list of participants by rating:

Ben

#	Name	Rtng
1	John Brooks	2198
2	Ariel Levi	2193
3	Robert O'Donnell	2164
4	Atulya Shetty	2148
5	Ameer Ghobrial	2147
6	Manis Davidovich	2136
7	Robert Ciaffone	2116
8	Mickey Maloy	2102
9	Jack Wood	2047
10	Tim Moroney	2018
11	William Rhee	2005
12	Jennifer Skidmore	1945
13	Spencer Finegold	1931
14	Jeff Aldrich	1904
15	Tim Kuhn	1736
16	Kayeen Kemp	1717
17	Anthony Bee	1700
18	Oleg Tsodikov	1700
19	Demarcus Berry	1653
20	Edward Song	1637
21	Joseph Paris	1593
22	Scott Faust	1565
23	Xiao Xiang Zhong	1529
24	Nathan Metcalf	1498
25	Jalen Wang	1444
26	Michael Shi	1389
27	Ed Mandell	1365
28	Shangbo Liao	1350
29	Jaron Marshall	1311
30	Sidnei Austin	1242
31	Harjot Mann	1239
32	Cody Jones	1219
33	Jeffery Zhang	1201
34	John Z Zhang	1201
35	Andrew Zheng	1179
36	Shaumik Baki	1168
37	Arnold Thomas	1105
38	Brandon O'Neil	968
39	Jordan Candie	948
40	Xiao Xuan Zhong	893
41	Jinhui Liao	865
42	Jim O'Neil	792
43	Gary J Payne	266
44	Anthony Liao	139
45	Michael Aldrich	114

GM - St. Louis Party

2009-12-05T20:23:00.001-05:00

Hi all,

I think the best idea is to have the party during the "dinner" break of the chess tournament, so more people will be there, and people can get home at a reasonable time.

So... please arrive by 5:30PM, and the party will last about 45 minutes, and CAKE will be served.

Next week, Saturday, Dec 12, at ATKM:

All The King's Men Chess Supplies and Brain Games in the PARKVIEW SQUARE Strip Mall - Call us at (586) 558-4790
27170 Dequindre Road
Warren, MI 48092

http://www.michess.org/tools/viewevent.php?eventID=2076

Best wishes,

Ben

GM - St. Louis Party

2009-12-02T10:58:00.002-05:00

Hi all,

We are going to have a GM / St Louis party at ATKM, during/after the MI Action Champs: (SATURDAY, DEC 12)

http://www.michess.org/tools/viewevent.php?eventID=2076

http://www.michess.org/tools/viewevent.php?eventID=2070

I think we will start at 5:30PM and go until 6:10PM or so, and then start the last round.... the other idea is to have the party start when the event ends at 7:30PM. I will give more details in a week or so.

I will need input from Jennifer and Ed.

Best wishes,

Ben

Pictures from Rounds 5 and 6

2009-11-30T10:14:00.014-05:00

Courtesy Rose Homa

Motor City Open Final Standings

2009-11-30T10:03:00.002-05:00

2009 Motor City Open Final Standings (Open Section)

#	Name	Rtng	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Rd 6	Tot
1	GM Ben Finegold	2601	W12	W16	W7	D2	W5	W4	5.5
2	GM Nikola Mitkov	2547	W17	W4	W11	D1	W7	W8	5.5
3	Atulya Shetty	2133	D14	W15	L5	W13	W21	W10	4.5
4	Jimmy Canty	2165	W11	L2	W21	W10	W9	L1	4.0
5	Michael Vilenchuk	2131	W28	W20	W3	D9	L1	D6	4.0
6	Mickey Maloy	2102	W26	L7	W23	D21	W18	D5	4.0
7	Seth Homa	2313	W24	W6	L1	W19	L2	D9	3.5
8	John R Brooks	2198	W29	D9	L10	W23	W12	L2	3.5
9	Michael Bowersock	2037	W19	D8	W18	D5	L4	D7	3.5
10	Will Rhee	2003	D18	W27	W8	L4	W14	L3	3.5
11	Jack Wood	2086	L4	B---	L2	W26	D15	W18	3.5
12	Matt Hassen	1994	L1	W26	W28	W15	L8	D17	3.5
13	Epiphany Peters	1914	L16	W25	D20	L3	W23	W19	3.5
14	Spencer Finegold	1929	D3	L18	W24	W20	L10	D15	3.0
15	Apurva Virkud	1716	W25	L3	W27	L12	D11	D14	3.0
16	Manis Davidovich	2114	W13	L1	L19	L18	W28	W24	3.0
17	Vladimir Drkulec	2099	L2	L21	B---	W28	D19	D12	3.0
18	Dr. Oliver Nikolovski	1813	D10	W14	L9	W16	L6	L11	2.5
19	Tom Manion	1840	L9	W29	W16	L7	D17	L13	2.5
20	Morgan Everett	2000	W22	L5	D13	L14	W27	U---	2.5
21	Gjergj Dodaj	1982	B---	W17	L4	D6	L3	U---	2.5
22	Eric Larson	1805	L20	L28	W29	L27	H---	W25	2.5
23	Alexander Deatrick	1775	H---	W24	L6	L8	L13	D26	2.0
24	Ron Finegold	2000	L7	L23	L14	W29	W26	L16	2.0
25	Oleg Tsodikov	1700	L15	L13	L26	W30	W29	L22	2.0
26	IC Matias	1868	L6	L12	W25	L11	L24	D23	1.5
27	Don Vandiver	1871	H---	L10	L15	W22	L20	U---	1.5
28	Ron Williams	1916	L5	W22	L12	L17	L16	U---	1.0
29	Vester Wilson	1966	L8	L19	L22	L24	L25	B---	1.0
30	Loyd Gentry	673	U---	U---	U---	L25	U---	U---	0.0

Motor City Open Round 6

2009-11-30T09:58:00.003-05:00

Ben won. He ends up with 5.5/6 and ties for 1st with GM Mitkov. Congratulations to Ben.

J. Canty - Ben Finegold
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 e6 4. c3 Nge7 5. d4 cxd4 6. cxd4 d5 7. e5 Bd7 8. Nc3 Qb6 9. Ba4 Nf5 10. Ne2 Qa5+ 11. Bd2 Bb4 12. Bc2 Bxd2+ 13. Qxd2 Qxd2+ 14. Kxd2 Nfe7 15. Ne1 f6 16. f4 fxe5 17. dxe5 g5 18. Nf3 gxf4 19. Nxf4 O-O-O 20. Rhe1 Rdf8 21. g3 h5 22. Nh4 Rhg8 23. Bd1 Rg5 24. Nf3 Rgf5 25. Bc2 R5f7 26. Ng5

26...Rxf4 27. gxf4 Rxf4 28. Bd1 Rf2+ 29. Re2 Rf5 30. h4 Nxe5 31. Rh2 Nc4+ 32. Kc3 Rf1 33. Rc1 Nc6 34. Rhc2 Rh1 35. Bxh5 Rxh4 36. Be2 Ne3 37. Rd2 e5 38. b3 Kb8 39. Kb2 Rh2 40. Nf3 Rf2 41. Ka3 e4 42. Ne1 d4 43. Nc2 Nf5 44. Rcd1 e3 45. Rxd4 Nfxd4 46. Nxd4 Nxd4 47. Rxd4 Bc6 48. Bg4 e2 49. Bxe2 Rxe2 50. Rf4 a5 51. Rf5 b5 52. b4 Re3+ 53. Kb2 axb4 54. Rf4 Be4 55. Kc1 Rc3+ 56. Kb2 Rc4 57. Rf7 Rc2+ 58. Ka1 Rc1+ 0-1

Motor City Open Round 5

2009-11-30T09:52:00.004-05:00

Ben won

Ben Finegold - M. Vilenchuk
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. Nf3 bxc4 5. Nc3 d6 6. e4 g6 7. Bxc4 Bg7 8. O-O O-O 9. h3 Nbd7 10. Re1 Ne8 11. Bf4 Nb6 12. Bf1 Nc7 13. a4 a5 14. Qb3 Rb8 15. e5 Bf5 16. Qd1 h5 17. Qd2 Rb7 18. Rad1 Nc8 19. Nh4 e6

20. exd6 Qxh4 21. dxc7 exd5 22. Bg3 Qb4 23. Qxd5 Qxb2 24. Nb5 Rxb5 25. Bxb5 Bd4 26. Bd3 Bxd3 27. Rxd3 Qb4 28. Red1 Qxa4 29. Be5 Nb6 30. Qd6 Bxe5 31. Qxe5 Re8 32. Qxe8+ 1-0

Standings After Round 4 Open Section

2009-11-29T00:51:00.001-05:00

#	Name	Rtng	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Tot
1	GM Ben Finegold	2601	W7	W23	W6	D2	3.5
2	GM Nikola Mitkov	2547	W18	W5	W16	D1	3.5
3	Michael Vilenchuk	2131	W24	W19	W10	D4	3.5
4	Michael Bowersock	2037	W17	D11	W9	D3	3.0
5	Jimmy Canty	2165	W16	L2	W12	W8	3.0
6	Seth Homa	2313	W26	W14	L1	W17	3.0
7	Matt Hassen	1994	L1	W25	W24	W15	3.0
8	Will Rhee	2003	D9	W22	W11	L5	2.5
9	Dr Oliver Nikolovski	1813	D8	W13	L4	W23	2.5
10	Atulya Shetty	2133	D13	W15	L3	W21	2.5
11	John R Brooks	2198	W29	D4	L8	W20	2.5
12	Gjergj Dodaj	1982	B---	W18	L5	D14	2.5
13	Spencer Finegold	1929	D10	L9	W26	W19	2.5
14	Mickey Maloy	2102	W25	L6	W20	D12	2.5
15	Apurva Virkud	1716	W27	L10	W22	L7	2.0
16	Jack Wood	2086	L5	B---	L2	W25	2.0
17	Tom Manion	1840	L4	W29	W23	L6	2.0
18	Vladimir Drkulec	2099	L2	L12	B---	W24	2.0
19	Morgan Everett	2000	W28	L3	D21	L13	1.5
20	Alexander Deatrick	1775	H---	W26	L14	L11	1.5
21	Epiphany Peters	1914	L23	W27	D19	L10	1.5
22	Don Vandiver	1871	H---	L8	L15	W28	1.5
23	Manis Davidovich	2114	W21	L1	L17	L9	1.0
24	Ron Williams	1916	L3	W28	L7	L18	1.0
25	IC Matias	1868	L14	L7	W27	L16	1.0
26	Ron Finegold	2000	L6	L20	L13	W29	1.0
27	Oleg Tsodikov	1700	L15	L21	L25	W30	1.0
28	Eric Larson	1805	L19	L24	W29	L22	1.0
29	Vester Wilson	1966	L11	L17	L28	L26	0.0
30	Loyd Gentry	673	U---	U---	U---	L27	0.0

Pictures from Rounds 3 and 4

2009-11-29T00:41:00.010-05:00

Courtesy Rose Homa

Motor City Open Round 4

2009-11-29T00:30:00.002-05:00

I offered a draw on move 5, he declined, then he made a slight error with 9.f4?! when 9.Bb3 is common. Then he offered a draw.

N. Mitkov - Ben Finegold
1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nf3 d6 4. Bc4 e6 5. O-O Nf6 6. d4 cxd4 7. Nxd4 Be7 8. Be3 O-O 9. f4 d5 10. exd5 1/2-1/2

Motor City Open Round 3

2009-11-29T00:13:00.004-05:00

Ben won. Mitkov and Vilenchuk also have 3-0. Spencer Finegold beat Ron Finegold.

Ben Finegold - Seth Homa
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bg5 Bg7 4. c3 O-O 5. Nbd2 d6 6. e4 c5 7. dxc5 dxc5 8. Bc4 Nc6 9. O-O Qc7 10. Re1 h6 11. Bh4 Nh5 12. Qc2 Bg4 13. Re3 Ne5 14. Bf1 Rad8 15. Rae1 Bxf3 16. Nxf3 Nxf3+ 17. Rxf3 Be5 18. Bg3 Nxg3 19. hxg3 a6 20. Rd1 b5 21. a4 Qc6 22. axb5 axb5 23. Rd5 Rxd5 24. exd5 Qxd5 25. Bxb5 c4 26. Qa4 Rc8 27. Ba6 Rc7 28. Re3 Bf6 29. Re1 e6 30. Rd1 Qa8 31. Ra1 Qb8 32. Ra2 Qd8 33. Bxc4 Rd7 34. Qc6 Rd1+ 35. Kh2 Be5 36. Ra8 Bb8 37. Qe4 Kg7

38. Bxe6 Rc1 39. Bxf7 Qf6 40. Rxb8 1-0

Standings After Round 2 (3-day Schedule)

2009-11-28T01:08:00.001-05:00


2009 MOTOR CITY OPEN: OPEN-3DAY -- Standings:

# Name Rd 1 Rd 2 Total
1 GM BEN FINEGOLD W13 W10  2.0
2 MICHAEL VILENCHUK W14 W12  2.0
3 SETH HOMA W20 W11  2.0
4 MICHAEL BOWERSOCK W15 D7  1.5
5 WILL RHEE D6 W19  1.5
6 DR. OLIVER NIKOLOVSKI D5 W18  1.5
7 JOHN R. BROOKS W21 D4  1.5
8 ATULYA SHETTY D18 W16  1.5
9 ALEXANDER DEATRICK H--- W20  1.5
10 MANIS DAVIDOVICH W17 L1  1.0
11 MICKEY MALOY W22 L3  1.0
12 MORGAN EVERETT W23 L2  1.0
13 MATT HASSEN L1 W22  1.0
14 RON WILLIAMS L2 W23  1.0
15 TOM MANION L4 W21  1.0
16 APURVA VIRKUD W24 L8  1.0
17 EPIPHANY PETERS L10 W24  1.0
18 SPENCER FINEGOLD D8 L6  0.5
19 DON VANDIVER H--- L5  0.5
20 RON FINEGOLD L3 L9  0.0
21 VESTER WILSON L7 L15  0.0
22 IC MATIAS L11 L13  0.0
23 ERIC LARSON L12 L14  0.0
24 OLEG TSODIKOV L16 L17  0.0

2009 MOTOR CITY OPEN: U1800-3DAY -- Standings:

# Name Rd 1 Rd 2 Total
1 KAYEEN KEMP W7 W6  2.0
2 NORMAN M. HAYGOOD W5 W9  2.0
3 MICHAEL SHI B--- D4  1.5
4 DEMARCUS BERRY W8 D3  1.5
5 EDWARD SONG L2 W10  1.0
6 DAVID STOCKMAN W11 L1  1.0
7 MICHAEL CARREL L1 W11  1.0
8 KEN SCHELL L4 B---  1.0
9 JOSEPH PARIS D10 L2  0.5
10 JA'MONTE ADAMS D9 L5  0.5
11 MILTON HALL L6 L7  0.0

2009 MOTOR CITY OPEN: U1400-3DAY -- Standings:

# Name Rd 1 Rd 2 Total
1 DEMETRIUS BROWN W22 W20  2.0
2 DEVAUGHN CROXTON W23 W21  2.0
3 DERRECK STURGIS W25 W18  2.0
4 ARNOLD THOMAS W24 W17  2.0
5 BRADY TYSINGER W35 W16  2.0
6 GUWOIN INGRAM W36 W15  2.0
7 JORDAN CANDIE W37 W19  2.0
8 D'METRIUS WILSON W26 D10  1.5
9 SIDNEI AUSTIN D11 W27  1.5
10 JAMES DAVENPORT W42 D8  1.5
11 RON LARSON D9 W33  1.5
12 GABRIEL COLSTON D31 W32  1.5
13 LORENZO MORALES D32 W31  1.5
14 CLINT A. BRANNON H--- W34  1.5
15 DARON BROWN W28 L6  1.0
16 JALEN JACKSON W29 L5  1.0
17 CURTIS, JR KENNEDY W30 L4  1.0
18 CLAUDE WILLIAMS W38 L3  1.0
19 DOMINIQUE WILLIAMS W39 L7  1.0
20 KAYLA THOMAS W40 L1  1.0
21 FREDDIE ZHAO W41 L2  1.0
22 JIM O'NEIL L1 W40  1.0
23 MICHAEL BROWN L2 W41  1.0
24 JOVAUN ROGERS L4 X---  1.0
25 BRANDON O'NEIL L3 W38  1.0
26 SOUMYA KULKARNI L8 W37  1.0
27 GARY PAYNE B--- L9  1.0
28 KALON SUGGS L15 W36  1.0
29 ALEXIS CLEMENTS L16 W35  1.0
30 BRIAN LEADBETTER L17 W39  1.0
31 PAUL MICHEL JR D12 L13  0.5
32 JASON VAN HOLLINS D13 L12  0.5
33 TAVANTE TYLER D34 L11  0.5
34 TAYLOR COGSHELL D33 L14  0.5
35 CARLA GIBSON L5 L29  0.0
36 MICAH GOODEN L6 L28  0.0
37 SERENITY HARPER L7 L26  0.0
38 NICOLE SUTTON L18 L25  0.0
39 CHRISTIAN YANISH L19 L30  0.0
40 BRANDY COPELAND L20 L22  0.0
41 AARON SIMPSON L21 L23  0.0
42 MYLAN HALL L10 F---  0.0

Motor City Open Pictures

2009-11-27T22:41:00.005-05:00

Pictures courtesy Rose Homa

Motor City Open Round 2

2009-11-27T20:43:00.001-05:00

Ben won.

Manis Davidovich - Ben Finegold
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 a6 8. O-O-O Bd7 9. f4 h6 10. Bxf6 gxf6 11. Nf5 exf5 12. Re1 Qa5 13. exf5+ Be7 14. Bc4 d5 15. Bxd5 O-O-O 16. g4 Bb4 17. Re3

17...Bxf5 18. gxf5 Bxc3 19. Rxc3 Qxd5 20. Qxd5 Rxd5 0-1

Ben

Standings After Round 1 (3-day Schedule)

2009-11-27T19:49:00.001-05:00

2009 MOTOR CITY OPEN: OPEN-3DAY -- Standings:

# Name Rd 1 Total
1 GM BEN FINEGOLD W17  1.0
2 SETH HOMA W16  1.0
3 JOHN R. BROOKS W18  1.0
4 MICHAEL VILENCHUK W19  1.0
5 MANIS DAVIDOVICH W20  1.0
6 MICKEY MALOY W21  1.0
7 MICHAEL BOWERSOCK W22  1.0
8 MORGAN EVERETT W23  1.0
9 APURVA VIRKUD W24  1.0
10 ATULYA SHETTY D12  0.5
11 WILL RHEE D13  0.5
12 SPENCER FINEGOLD D10  0.5
13 DR. OLIVER NIKOLOVSKI D11  0.5
14 DON VANDIVER H---  0.5
15 ALEXANDER DEATRICK H---  0.5
16 RON FINEGOLD L2  0.0
17 MATT HASSEN L1  0.0
18 VESTER WILSON L3  0.0
19 RON WILLIAMS L4  0.0
20 EPIPHANY PETERS L5  0.0
21 IC MATIAS L6  0.0
22 TOM MANION L7  0.0
23 ERIC LARSON L8  0.0
24 OLEG TSODIKOV L9  0.0

2009 MOTOR CITY OPEN: U1800-3DAY -- Standings:

# Name Rd 1 Total
1 KAYEEN KEMP W9  1.0
2 DEMARCUS BERRY W10  1.0
3 DAVID STOCKMAN W11  1.0
4 NORMAN M. HAYGOOD W8  1.0
5 MICHAEL SHI B---  1.0
6 JOSEPH PARIS D7  0.5
7 JA'MONTE ADAMS D6  0.5
8 EDWARD SONG L4  0.0
9 MICHAEL CARREL L1  0.0
10 KEN SCHELL L2  0.0
11 MILTON HALL L3  0.0

2009 MOTOR CITY OPEN: U1400-3DAY -- Standings:

# Name Rd 1 Total
1 BRADY TYSINGER W28  1.0
2 DARON BROWN W29  1.0
3 DEMETRIUS BROWN W30  1.0
4 CLAUDE WILLIAMS W31  1.0
5 DEVAUGHN CROXTON W32  1.0
6 D'METRIUS WILSON W33  1.0
7 DOMINIQUE WILLIAMS W34  1.0
8 ARNOLD THOMAS W35  1.0
9 GUWOIN INGRAM W36  1.0
10 JALEN JACKSON W37  1.0
11 KAYLA THOMAS W38  1.0
12 DERRECK STURGIS W39  1.0
13 FREDDIE ZHAO W40  1.0
14 JORDAN CANDIE W41  1.0
15 CURTIS, JR KENNEDY W42  1.0
16 JAMES DAVENPORT W27  1.0
17 GARY PAYNE B---  1.0
18 SIDNEI AUSTIN D22  0.5
19 TAVANTE TYLER D23  0.5
20 PAUL MICHEL JR D24  0.5
21 JASON VAN HOLLINS D25  0.5
22 RON LARSON D18  0.5
23 TAYLOR COGSHELL D19  0.5
24 GABRIEL COLSTON D20  0.5
25 LORENZO MORALES D21  0.5
26 CLINT A. BRANNON H---  0.5
27 MYLAN HALL L16  0.0
28 CARLA GIBSON L1  0.0
29 KALON SUGGS L2  0.0
30 JIM O'NEIL L3  0.0
31 NICOLE SUTTON L4  0.0
32 MICHAEL BROWN L5  0.0
33 SOUMYA KULKARNI L6  0.0
34 CHRISTIAN YANISH L7  0.0
35 JOVAUN ROGERS L8  0.0
36 MICAH GOODEN L9  0.0
37 ALEXIS CLEMENTS L10  0.0
38 BRANDY COPELAND L11  0.0
39 BRANDON O'NEIL L12  0.0
40 AARON SIMPSON L13  0.0
41 SERENITY HARPER L14  0.0
42 BRIAN LEADBETTER L15  0.0

Motor City Open Round 1

2009-11-27T19:27:00.004-05:00

The Motor City Open looks like it will draw about 115 players total, after the 2-Day merges tomorrow, up from 74 last year! So far, there are 77 players in the 3-Day Schedule.

I won my first game. Seth Homa beat my dad. Spencer is playing Atulya on board 4, and it looks like Spencer had a big advantage, as well as a time advantage. [Update: Spencer and Atulya got to a drawn rook and pawn ending, and Spencer ended up with a winning game, with King and Queen versus King and Rook, and unfortunately only drew.] John Brooks beat Vester Wilson on board 3.

Ben Finegold - M. Hassen
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Qc2 e6 5. g3 Be7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O Nbd7 8. Bf4 Nh5 9. Nbd2 Nxf4 10. gxf4 Nf6 11. e3 b6 12. Ne5 Bb7 13. c5 Nd7 14. Nxd7 Qxd7 15. b4 a5 16. a3 axb4 17. axb4 bxc5 18. bxc5 Ba6 19. Rfb1 Bb5 20. Bf1 Rxa1 21. Rxa1 Bxf1 22. Kxf1 f6 23. Nf3 e5 24. dxe5 Qh3+ 25. Ke2 Qh5 26. e6 g5 27. Rg1 Ra8 28. Rg3 Ra5 29. fxg5 fxg5 30. Kf1 h6

31. Qf5 Kg7 32. Qe5+ Kg8 33. Qc7 Ra1+ 34. Kg2 Qe8 35. Nd4 Bxc5 36. Nf5 1-0

Ben

Motor City Open

2009-11-26T09:17:00.002-05:00

Good luck to Ben and Spencer in the Motor City Open, which starts tomorrow. According to our sources, more than 90 people have pre-registered, which is more than the 74 from last year!

Ben's 1-Minute Rating

2009-11-24T21:48:00.002-05:00

* NEWS UPDATE *

Ben's 1-minute rating has increased even further to an astounding 2658!!

Here is the current top 10 list:

1-minute
2966 Smallville(GM)
2703 DSquared(GM)
2658 Finegold(GM)
2617 Universitario(FM)
2615 Kastor(GM)
2588 Dzirt(IM)
2576 TuHoang(GM)
2572 Charodej(GM)
2554 TGA1984(GM)
2553 Piter(GM)

Ben goes 24-0 in the Simul

2009-11-22T01:50:00.003-05:00

I played 18 people at once, and when games were done, new people took over. I scored 24-0.

Some of the higher rated players were: Manis Davidovich, Matt Hassen, Will Rhee, and Jenifer Skidmore.

Ben

Here is Ben's game against Matt Hassen, who is rated about 2030.

Ben Finegold-Matt Hassen, Simul
1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 c6 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. e3 Qa5 7. Nd2 dxc4 8. Bxf6 Nxf6 9. Nxc4 Qc7 10. Be2 Be7 11. Rc1 Nd5 12. O-O O-O 13. e4 Nxc3 14. Rxc3 Rd8 15. Rg3 e5 16. Nxe5 Bd6 17. f4 Be6 18. Kh1 f6 19. Bg4 Bxa2

20. d5 fxe5 21. Be6+ Kh8 22. f5 cxd5 23. Qh5 h6 24. f6 Rf8 25. h3 gxf6 26. Rg6 Rf7 27. Bxf7 1-0

Simul Reminder

2009-11-18T19:28:00.001-05:00

Hi all,

Just another reminder of the simul I am giving Saturday in Ypsi at 5PM.

http://www.michess.org/tools/viewevent.php?eventID=2074

Ben

1-Minute Rating

2009-11-18T01:20:00.005-05:00

Ben got a new 1-minute high rating tonight.... 2616!

rating [need] win loss draw total best
1-minute 2616 5802 3271 504 9577 2616 (18-Nov-2009)

He got it with a win over SongLo209(IM):
1. h4 d5 2. h5 h6 3. d4 Bf5 4. f3 e6 5. g4 Bh7 6. Nc3 Bd6 7. e4 Bg3+ 8. Ke2 dxe4 9. fxe4 Nf6 10. Kf3 Bd6 11. e5 Bxe5 12. dxe5 Be4+ 13. Nxe4 Qxd1+ 14. Be2 Qxc2 15. exf6 gxf6 16. Nxf6+ Ke7 17. g5 Nc6 18. Nh3 Nd4+ 19. Kg3 {White resigns} 0-1

Kings Island Video

2009-11-17T11:44:00.004-05:00

Ben appears in this Kings Island Open video:

http://main.uschess.org/content/view/9856/562/

King's Island Open Chess Tournament from JW Holes on Vimeo.

Ben Ties for First

2009-11-16T11:57:00.004-05:00

I drew a 6 hour game, the last to finish by quite a bit.

Four way tie for first... Finegold, Karklins, Bereolos, and Homa. 4-1 each. IM Bryan Smith, WIM Iryna Zenyuk, and GM Eugene Perelshteyn scored 3.5-1.5.

http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?200911150861.0

Ben Finegold - Eugene Perelshteyn
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8. Qb3 Qd6 9. e3 c6 10. Bd3 O-O 11. O-O Ba5 12. e4 dxe4 13. Nxe4 Qc7 14. Rac1 Be6 15. Bc4 Bxc4 16. Qxc4 Rd8 17. Rfd1 Na6 18. Ne5 Bb6 19. Nf3 Qf4 20. Re1 Rd5 21. Nc3 Rd7 22. Rcd1 Rad8 23. Re4 Qd6 24. Rde1 Nc7 25. g3 Qf8 26. Kg2 Nd5 27. Qb3 Nf6 28. R4e2 Ba5 29. Ne5 Rc7 30. Nf3 Qb4 31. Qc2 Qf8 32. Re5 Bxc3 33. Qxc3 Nd5 34. Qa5 b6 35. Qa4 Nf6 36. h3 Qd6 37. Qb3 g6 38. a3 Kg7 39. Qe3 Nd5 40. Qe2 Rdd7 41. Qe4 Re7 42. Qc2 f6 43. Rxe7+ Rxe7 44. Rxe7+ Nxe7 45. Qc4 g5 46. Qe2 Qd7 47. Qe4 Nf5 48. Kh2 h5 49. Kg2 Nd6 50. Qc2 Qe8 51. Kf1 Qc8 52. h4 g4 53. Ng1 Qa6+ 54. Ne2 Qc4 55. Qd2 Nf5 56. Kg1 Kf7 57. Qf4 Qe6 58. Nc3 Kg6 59. Qd2 Ne7 60. Qd3+ Kg7 61. Qa6 Qd7 62. Qc4 Nd5 63. Nxd5 Qxd5 64. Qxd5 cxd5 65. Kf1 f5 66. f3 b5 67. Kf2 Kf7 68. Ke3 Ke6 69. Kf4 Kf6 70. b3 a5 71. Ke3 Ke6 72. b4 a4 73. f4 1/2-1/2

Ben

Kings Island Round 5

2009-11-15T22:30:00.001-05:00

Ben drew a 6-hour game vs. GM Eugene Perelshteyn in Round 5 of the Kings Island Open. Perelshteyn tried hard to win with Black but could not manage it. So, Ben finishes with 4.0/5, tied for first with Peter Bereolos, Andrew Karklins, and fellow Michigander Seth Homa. Each won $1,150.

Kings Island Round 4

2009-11-15T13:47:00.005-05:00

I had a very strange game with Iryna. I decided to play 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nc6 in my pre-game prep. She played 2.Nf3. Now I decided to play a Slav or Semi-Slav. Iryna played quickly, so, I played a line I have never played before, but had prepared in Texas against Vinay Bhat. However, not only did I forget my analysis, but, I played the only line Iryna looked a before the game! I played 6...c5 against Bhat, so, I figured Iryna looked at that, but, she did not know that game at all, and mainly looked at 6..Bb4, which I ended up playing.

I played VERY slowly, and, somehow, it was all theory. I thought I had a VERY bad position, and offered a draw, but, I am only slightly worse, albeit with 50 minutes less on the clock!

Spencer just finished, he beat a 2130! Cory Mikesell.

Iryna Zenyuk - Ben Finegold
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 e6 6. e4 Bb4 7. e5 Nd5 8. Bd2 b5 9. axb5 Bxc3 10. bxc3 cxb5 11. Ng5 Nc6 12. Qh5 Qe7 13. Be2 Bb7 14. O-O h6 1/2-1/2

Ben

Kings Island Round 3

2009-11-14T22:38:00.002-05:00

So far, so good I am 3-0 as is Iryna Zenyuk, and we are the only perfect scores. Perelshteyn was beating Jim Mills, but only drew. They are the only people with 2.5-0.5. There are 12-14 players with 2-1. GM Lein lost to another expert, so only has 1-2. Atulya lost to a master in round 2, but drew NM Pappu Murthy in round 3.

The higher rated players who have 2-1 and are tied for 5th at the moment are: Bryan Smith, Dmitry Berkovich, Seth Homa, Peter Bereolos, Andrew Karklins, and many others.

Spencer had a full point bye in round 3.

Ben Finegold - P. Bereolos
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 c5 3. d5 g6 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 Bg7 6. Be2 O-O 7. O-O Na6 8. Re1 Nc7 9. a4 b6 10. Bf4 Bb7 11. Qd2 Re8 12. Rad1 a6 13. Bc4 Qd7 14. Bh6 b5 15. Bxg7 Kxg7 16. e5 bxc4 17. exf6+ exf6 18. Rxe8 Nxe8 19. Qf4 f5 20. Nd2 Nf6 21. Nxc4 Rd8 22. h3 Qe7 23. Kf1 Nh5 24. Qd2 Qh4 25. b3 Bc8 26. Re1

26...f4 27. Ne4 g5 28. Qc3+ Kg6 29. Nexd6 f6 30. Qd3+ f5 31. Nxc8 Rxc8 32. Ne5+ 1-0

Ben

Kings Island Round 2

2009-11-14T16:51:00.001-05:00

Ben won and Spencer lost

K. Meekins - Ben Finegold
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. f4 a5 10. a4 Nb4 11. Be3 Bd7 12. Bf3 Rc8 13. fxe5 dxe5 14. Rf2 Qc7 15. Rd2 Rfd8 16. Qe2 Be6 17. Rxd8+ Rxd8 18. Kh1 Rc8 19. Rd1 Qc4 20. Nxa5 Qxe2 21. Bxe2 Nxc2 22. Bg1 Nd4 23. Bxd4 exd4 24. Rxd4 Bc5 25. Rd1 b6 26. Nb7 Bb3 27. Rd8+ Rxd8 28. Nxd8 Bd4 29. Bb5 Bxc3 30. bxc3 Nxe4 31. c4 Nd6 32. Nc6 Bxc4 33. Bxc4 Nxc4 34. Kg1 Kf8 35. Kf2 Ke8 36. Ke2 Kd7 37. Nd4 Nb2 38. Nf5 g6 39. Nh6 Ke6 0-1

Kings Island Round 1 - Ben Wins

2009-11-14T05:36:00.002-05:00

I won round 1 against a 2150. Spencer lost to a 2195. There were MANY upsets. Board 2 saw IM Bryan Smith lose to a 2140. Board 3 saw Atulya draw with black against IM Dmitry Berkovich. On board 8 or so, 2275 rated Sergey Berchenko lost to a 2040. Andrew Karklins drew John Bath, and a host of many other draws and losses by higher rated players. Tomorrow, in the 2-Day, GM Eugene Perelshteyn is playing. It looks like there will be about 65-70 players in the Open when the schedules merge, and only 3 GMs (Anatoly Lein won on board 4). I think I will play someone rated 2180-2220 next round. Bereolos and Zenyuk won their games.

Here is my game:

Ben Finegold - A. Casden
1. d4 g6 2. e4 Bg7 3. Nc3 c5 4. d5 d6 5. Nf3 Nf6 6. Bb5+ Bd7 7. a4 O-O 8. O-O Bg4 9. Re1 Na6 10. h3 Bxf3 11. Qxf3 Nb4 12. Qd1 e6 13. dxe6 fxe6 14. e5 dxe5 15. Qe2 Nfd5 16. Ne4 Nf4 17. Bxf4 exf4 18. Nxc5 f3 19. Qc4 Qg5 20. g3 Rac8 21. Qxb4 Qxc5 22. Qxc5 Rxc5 23. c3 Rd8 24. Rxe6 Rd2 25. Re8+ Bf8 26. Rb1 Kf7 27. Re3 Rf5 28. b4 Bd6 29. Bd3 Rf6 30. Be4

30...Bxg3 31. fxg3 Rg2+ 32. Kf1 Rxg3 33. Rd1 Rxh3 34. Rdd3 Rh1+ 35. Kf2 Rh2+ 36. Kg3 Rg2+ 37. Kh3 1-0

Ben

Article about Ben in Chess.com

2009-11-13T00:43:00.003-05:00

America's Newest Grandmaster

http://blog.chess.com/kurtgodden/americas-newest-grandmaster

Simul on Nov 21

2009-11-12T13:59:00.003-05:00

Hi everyone,

I am giving a simul, 5PM, Saturday, Nov 21, at:

All The King's Men Chess Club, Ypsilanti
10 N. Hewitt, Suite 5
Ypsilanti, MI 48197

Info at:

http://www.michess.org/tools/viewevent.php?eventID=2074

SIMUL ENTRY FEE: ADULTS - $12, UNDER AGE 16 - $6

Best wishes,

Ben

Press Release

2009-11-09T19:22:00.004-05:00

Hi all,

The club put out a press release today. I assume uschess.org will have it soon, but here is a link to the Polgar blog which reported the press release.

http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2009/11/new-gm-in-residence-in-st-louis.html

Ben

Update: See http://main.uschess.org/content/view/9843/562/

Ben is Moving to St. Louis

2009-11-06T00:03:00.002-05:00

Hi all,

As many of you already know (and many don't), I have been in talks with the St Louis Chess Club and Scholastic Center http://saintlouischessclub.org/ about moving to St Louis and being the "Grandmaster-in-Residence." We agreed to terms today, and, as a result, I will be moving to St Louis in early January, and starting work at the club immediately.

Best wishes,

Ben

Defense Under Pressure

2009-11-03T17:04:00.002-05:00

Check out GM Vinay Bhat's article at chess.com about his encounter with Ben at the SPICE Cup in September.

Defense Under Pressure

http://www.chess.com/article/view/defense-under-pressure

Ben Featured in Chess Check e-Zine

2009-11-01T23:46:00.000-05:00

Hi all,

A new e-magazine has a tribute to my game with Gelfand. (Oct 2009 issue)

http://www.chesscheckezine.com/current.html

Ben

Cleveland Open Round 5

2009-10-25T21:55:00.005-04:00

I was VERY lost at the end (trying WAY too hard to win) and offered a draw, which was accepted. He already turned down a draw in the middlegame, and, he did not realize he was winning at the end.

Shabalov beat Lein the last round, but was quite lucky. First, he was worse most of the game, second, Lein probably was not losing when he resigned!

The tournament has been rated!

http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?200910253721

Ben Finegold - Scott Ramer
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. Nf3 O-O 5. Bg5 c5 6. e3 d6 7. Be2 h6 8. Bh4 Bf5 9. O-O Ne4 10. Nd2 Nxc3 11. bxc3 g5 12. Bg3 Qd7 13. h4 Nc6 14. hxg5 hxg5 15. Nf3 Bf6 16. Bd3 Bg4 17. Qb1 Kg7 18. Nh2 Rh8 19. f3 Bh5 20. Bf2 Rh6 21. g4 Bg6 22. Kg2 Rah8 23. Rh1 Na5 24. e4 Nc6 25. Qb2 Qc7 26. Rab1 b6 27. Rbg1 Qc8 28. Nf1 Rxh1 29. Rxh1 Rxh1 30. Kxh1 Qh8+ 31. Kg2 cxd4 32. cxd4 Kh7 33. Qd2 Bxd4 34. Qxg5 Bxf2 35. Kxf2 Qb2+ 36. Qd2 Qd4+ 37. Kg2 Ne5 38. Be2 Qxd2 39. Nxd2 f6 40. Kf2 Bf7 41. Ke3 Be6 42. Kd4 Kh6 43. f4 Bxg4 44. Bxg4 Nxg4 45. Kd5 e5

46. Kc6 exf4 47. Kb7 Ne5 48. Kxa7 f3 49. Nxf3 Nxf3 50. Kxb6 1/2-1/2

Cleveland Open Round 4

2009-10-25T12:00:00.002-04:00

Ben drew Shabalov. Spencer lost to a 2150.

Shabalov - Finegold
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 dxc4 5. a4 Na6 6. e4 Bg4 7. Bxc4 Bxf3 8. gxf3 e6 9. Be3 Nb4 10. a5 Be7 11. Rg1 O-O 12. e5 Ne8 13. f4 Kh8 14. Qb3 b5 15. Be2 Nc7 16. Rg3 1/2-1/2

Cleveland Open Update

2009-10-25T01:19:00.001-04:00

I will have black tomorrow morning versus Shabalov.

GM Shabalov, GM Finegold, and GM Lein are 3-0. IM Vucic, NM Pappu, and three players rated 2100-2300 are 2.5-0.5.

Top board should be:

1 Shabalov-Finegold
2 Vucic-Lein

Spencer drew the 2290 player. Spencer is probably up about 20 rating points. Atulya lost a drawn ending, and his opponent (Scott Ramer?) has 2.5-0.5. Atulya is 2-1, Spencer is 1.5-1.5. Michiganian Eric Larson, in the U2000, has 2.5-0.5 in spite of being on the three lowest rated player in the section!

IM Vucic is already listed as having a half point bye in the last round.

Ben

Cleveland Open Round 2 and 3

2009-10-24T21:46:00.003-04:00

I am 3-0 so far. I beat Oliver Koo and Iryna Zenyuk. Spencer beat a 2090 in round 2, and he is black against a 2280 in round 3, and I think Spencer has the edge now.

Shabalov is 3-0. Atulya is 2-0 (beating NM William Wright in round 2). Atulya is defending a worse ending against a 2150. GM Anatoly Lein is 2-0 and playing a 2170. IM Mladen Vucic is 2-0 and playing NM Anath Pappu. I could play Shabalov next round, if there are some draws on board 3-5, otherwise, I will be paired down. If I play Shabalov, I will be black.

Round 4 is 9AM Eastern Time.

Ben

Oliver Koo - Ben Finegold
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bc4 e6 7. Be3 Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. Bb3 a6 10. f4 Nxd4 11. Bxd4 b5 12. e5 dxe5 13. fxe5 Ne8 14. Ne4 Bb7 15. Qd3 Bxe4 16. Qxe4 g6 17. a4 b4 18. a5 Ng7 19. g4 Rc8 20. Rfd1 Qc7 21. Kg2 Bc5 22. Bxc5 Qxc5 23. Rd6 Rfd8 24. Rad1 Qxa5 25. Rxd8+ Rxd8 26. Rxd8+ Qxd8 27. Qxb4 h5 28. h3 Qg5 29. Qe4 Qd2+ 30. Kg3 Qc1 31. Qd4 Qe1+ 32. Kf3 Qh4 33. Kg2 hxg4 34. hxg4

34...Nf5 35. Qf4 Nh6 36. Kf3 g5 37. Qg3 Qh1+ 38. Ke2 Qe4+ 39. Qe3 Qxg4+ 40. Qf3 Qd4 41. Qf6 Qe4+ 42. Kd2 Qg2+ 43. Kc3 Nf5 44. Bxe6 Qf3+ 45. Kb4 fxe6 46. Qxe6+ Kh7 47. Qf7+ Kh6 48. e6 Qe4+ 49. c4 g4 50. Ka5 g3 51. Kxa6 g2 52. Qf8+ Kh5 53. Qh8+ Kg4 54. e7 Qxc4+ 0-1

Ben Finegold - Iryna Zenyuk
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. Nf3 d6 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 b6 7. Be2 Bb7 8. Qc2 c5 9. d5 a6 10. a4 e6 11. dxe6 fxe6 12. Rd1 Nc6 13. Qd2 Qe8 14. Qxd6 Qf7

15. Bf4 e5 16. Ng5 Qe8 17. Bg3 Nb4 18. O-O 1-0

Cleveland Open Round 1

2009-10-24T14:17:00.005-04:00

There are 170 players or so. In the Open, Shabalov, Finegold, Lein, and Vucic are the top 4 players. Iryna Zenyuk, who recently finished the 2009 US Women's Champs is also playing. There are 45 players in the Open section.

The schedules (2 day and 3 day) merge for round 3. I won my game. Spencer lost to a 2170.

Ben

Ben Finegold - K. Cao
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Nbd7 5. e3 c6 6. cxd5 exd5 7. Bd3 Bd6 8. Qc2 h6 9. Bh4 O-O 10. Nge2 Re8 11. Bg3 Nf8 12. O-O Qe7 13. Rab1 Nh5 14. Bxd6 Qxd6 15. b4 Nf6 16. Ng3 Ng4 17. Rfe1 h5 18. e4 dxe4 19. Ncxe4 Qd8 20. h3 h4 21. Nh5 f5 22. Nc5 Nh6 23. Bc4+ Kh7 24. Rxe8 Qxe8 25. Nf4 b6 26. Ncd3 Qd8 27. Re1 Qxd4 28. Re7 Qa1+ 29. Kh2 Qf6 30. Qe2 Ng6 31. Nxg6 Qxg6 32. Qe5 Kh8

33. Nf4 Qg5 34. Nh5 Qg4 35. Rxg7 1-0

SPICE Cup Rated

2009-10-24T14:03:00.001-04:00

SPICE Cup has been rated

Ben's rating 2601 -> 2612

GM Title Approved

2009-10-19T11:50:00.002-04:00

One Step Closer To Officially Becoming a GM

Mark Finegold writes:

Ben's title appears on a list of approved titles from the recently concluded FIDE Congress in Greece. See http://www.fide.com/component/content/article/1-fide-news/4148--titles-approved-at-the-80th-fide-congress-. Woo hoo!

Tournament Schedule Update

2009-10-16T22:11:00.004-04:00

Ben and his son Spencer will be playing in the Cleveland Open (Oct 23-25) and Kings Island Open (Nov 13-15). Good luck to both!

San Francisco

2009-10-16T04:19:00.004-04:00

I am going to San Fran Nov 7-12. I am giving a lecture at Mechanics Club and visiting Janis and such.

Here is a note from the Mechanic Chess Club newsletter.

GM soon to be Ben Finegold will give a lecture at the Mechanics' on Tuesday, November 10, starting at 5:15. This event is free to the public. Ben will be in town for a few days and is available for private lessons. Interested parties may contact him at gmfinegold@gmail.com .

Ben

Ben Lifts the Irinas

2009-10-15T01:33:00.003-04:00

Ben lifts Irina Krush and Iryna Zenyuk

Pictures from the U.S. Women's Championship

2009-10-13T02:10:00.003-04:00

Ben in Round 1

Ben has something to say in Round 2

Macauley, Jen, and Ben in Round 1

The commentators have a laugh in Round 4

The players take a tour of the cancer center Chess 4 Life

Some More Articles about Ben

2009-10-11T14:10:00.002-04:00

From the L.A. Times:

http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2009/10/finegold-fulfilled-requirements.html

From Lubbock Avalanche Journal:

(This article made me blush! :) - Ben)

http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2009/10/20-year-old-dream-finally-comes-true.html

Article by Ben

2009-10-11T03:35:00.002-04:00

Check out Ben's article at chess.com. This week he is taking over Iryna Zenyuk's column.

U.S. Women's Championship Halftime Report

Ben's GM Title Application

2009-10-09T17:08:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone,

I think this has to be online for 60 days.

http://ratings.fide.com/title_applications.phtml?details=1&id=2000261&title=GM&pb=24

Ben

Bulletins

2009-10-06T13:51:00.001-04:00

Hi all,

Nice bulletins of the 2009 US Women's Champs at: http://www.saintlouischessclub.org/US-Womens-Championship-2009/bulletins

Ben

New York Times Article Features Ben

2009-10-05T01:57:00.004-04:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/crosswords/chess/04chess.html

US Women's Championship - Jazz Night

2009-10-03T23:24:00.001-04:00

Here is a pic from the after-party of the Jazz night from the US Women's. Round 1 is tomorrow at 2PM CDT.

The people in the pic are (left to right): Irina Krush, Iryna Zenyuk, Ben Finegold, Rusa Goletiani, Tatev Abrahamyan, Alisa Melekhina, and Yun Fan.

Ben

GM Party

2009-10-01T02:27:00.005-04:00

Today there was a party held at Garden Market Cafe to celebrate Ben becoming a Grandmaster. Here are some photos from that event:

Tournament Schedule

2009-09-30T00:08:00.004-04:00

Ben is going to play in the Kings Island Open on Nov. 13-15. Also, he might play in the Cleveland Open on Oct 23-25. Good luck to Ben!

A New SPICE Cup Video

2009-09-29T15:16:00.001-04:00

SPICE Cup Round 9 - Ben Loses

2009-09-27T15:01:00.013-04:00

I got a bit overconfident the last round, and played two bad moves in a row. After getting a slightly better position, and more time, I played h5?! (f5 is better) and Qc7? (cxb4 is fine), and was probably lost after those two bad moves. I thought I had excellent play on the f file, but it was nothing.

Bhat won a nice game against Ippolito, so Eugene, Vinay, and I tied for first. Danny Rensch drew (he was winning at 2 different points, at least) to get his final IM norm. Ray Robson plays in the PAN-AM youth in Uruguay soon, and will get the GM title if he comes in clear first.

Ben

GM Eugene Perelshteyn - IM Ben Finegold
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 e6 4. Bxc6 bxc6 5. O-O Ne7 6. b3 Ng6 7. Ba3 e5 8. c3 Ba6 9. Re1 Bd3 10. Re3 Bxb1 11. Rxb1 Qa5 12. Qc1 Be7 13. g3 O-O 14. h4

14...h5 15. b4 Qc7 16. bxc5 f5 17. exf5 Rxf5 18. Qc2 Raf8 19. Qe4 d5 20. cxd6 Bxd6 21. Rb3 Bxa3 22. Rxa3 Ne7 23. c4 Nc8 24. c5 Qf7 25. Qxc6 e4 26. Qxe4 Rxc5 27. Qe6 Qxe6 28. Rxe6 Rcf5 29. Kg2 Nb6 30. Re5 Rxe5 31. Nxe5 Rd8 32. d3 Rd5 33. f4 a5 34. Rb3 Na4 35. Kf3 Rc5 36. Nc4 Rd5 37. Ra3 Nc5 38. Rxa5 Rxd3+ 39. Ke2 Rxg3 40. Rxc5 Rg2+ 41. Kf3 Rxa2 42. Rxh5 Rh2 43. Kg3 Rh1 44. Ne3 Rg1+ 45. Kf3 Rh1 46. Rg5 Rxh4 47. Rxg7+ Kf8 48. Ra7 Rh6 49. Kg4 Re6 50. Nc4 Rg6+ 51. Kf5 Rh6 52. Ne5 Rd6 53. Kg5 Rd5 54. Kf5 Rb5 55. Rc7 Rb4 56. Ke6 Rb6+ 57.Rc6 Rb7 58. f5 Re7+ 59. Kf6 Re8 60. Ng6+ Kg8 61. Rc8 1-0

Final Standings:

1-3 Finegold, Ben IM 2515 USA 6.0
1-3 Bhat, Vinay GM 2459 USA 6.0
1-3 Perelshteyn, Eugene GM 2542 USA 6.0
4 Robson, Ray IM 2527 USA 5.5
5 Papp, Gabor IM 2562 HUN 5.0
6-8 Rensch, Danny FM 2388 USA 4
6-8 Antal, Gergely IM 2486 HUN 4
6-8 Kuljasevic, Davorin IM 2547 CRO 4
9 Diamant, Andre GM 2526 BRA 2.5
10 Ippolito, Dean IM 2459 USA 2.0

Susan Polgar (tournament organizer) and the three tournament winners GM Bhat, GM-Elect Finegold, and GM Perelshtyn

Some Videos

2009-09-27T01:27:00.003-04:00

Here are some videos taken from Susan Polgar's chess blog.

The moment that Ben became a GM:

Ben gets some Grandmaster Cake:

SPICE Cup Round 8 - Draw

2009-09-26T15:01:00.008-04:00

It's official! Ben will get the final GM norm

IM Ben Finegold - FM Daniel Rensch
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 c5 5. dxc5 O-O 6. Nf3 Na6 7. Bd2 Bxc5 8. Bg5 h6 9. Bh4 Be7 10. e3 b6 11. Be2 d5 12. Rd1 Bb7 13. cxd5 Nb4 14. Qa4 Nbxd5 15. Nxd5 Nxd5 16. e4 Bxh4 17. exd5 Bf6 18. dxe6 Qe7 19.Rd7 Qe8 20.Qb3 Bc8 21.exf7+ Rxf7 22.Qxf7+ Qxf7 23.Rxf7 Kxf7 24.Bc4+ Kf8 25.b3 Bg4 26.O-O 1/2-1/2

What is Ben doing?

Susan Polgar (tournament organizer) watches over Ben

Ben Reports on Round 7

2009-09-26T07:51:00.000-04:00

Standings After 7 Rounds

2009-09-26T00:40:00.002-04:00

1 Finegold, Ben IM 2515 USA 5.5

2-3 Bhat, Vinay GM 2459 USA 4.5

2-3 Perelshteyn, Eugene GM 2542 USA 4.5

4 Robson, Ray IM 2527 USA 4.0

5 Antal, Gergely IM 2486 HUN 3.5

6-8 Rensch, Danny FM 2388 USA 3.0

6-8 Kuljasevic, Davorin IM 2547 CRO 3.0

6-8 Papp, Gabor IM 2562 HUN 3.0

9 Diamant, Andre GM 2526 BRA 2.5

10 Ippolito, Dean IM 2459 USA 1.5

SPICE Cup Round 7 - Draw

2009-09-25T09:01:00.002-04:00

I drew.

Need one more.

Ben

GM Andre Diamant - IM Ben Finegold
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Bc5 5. Nc3 O-O 6. d3 d6 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4 Bg4 1/2-1/2

Afterwards in the analysis room

Ben with GM Perelshteyn two days ago at a dinner

Antal-Robson, with Ben watching in the background

SPICE Cup Round 6 - Ben Wins

2009-09-24T15:00:00.009-04:00

Ben wins again and is 5/6! He needs 1/3 for the GM norm.

IM Ben Finegold - IM Gergely Antal
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bg5 d5 4. Bxf6 exf6 5. e3 Be6 6. Nbd2 f5 7. c4 c6 8. Qb3 Qb6 9. Qxb6 axb6 10. cxd5 Bxd5 11. Bc4 Bxc4 12. Nxc4 b5 13. Nce5 f6 14. Nd3 Nd7 15. h3 Bd6 16. g4 fxg4 17. hxg4 Kf7 18. g5 c5 19. dxc5 Nxc5 20. Nxc5 Bxc5 21. O-O-O Rxa2 22. Kb1 Ra7 23. Rd7 Be7 24. gxf6 Kxf6 25. Nd4 Ra6 26. Rh3 Kf7 27. Rxb7 b4 28. Nf3 Ke6 29. Nd4 Kf7 30.Rh4 h5 31.Nf3 Re8 32.Rhxb4 g5 33.Re4 Kf6 34.Rb5 Rg8 35.Ree5 g4 36.Nh4

36...Rd6 37.Rxh5 Rd1 38.Ka2 Rf1 39.Rb6 Kf7 40.Rh7 Rg7 41.Rxg7 Kxg7 42.Nf5 Kf7 43.Nxe7 Kxe7 44.Rb4 Rg1 45.Rd4 Kf6 46.b4 Rg2 47.Kb3 Ke5 48.Rd2 Ke4 49.b5 Kf3 50.b6 Rh2 51.b7 Rh8 52.Kc4 Rb8 53.Rb2 1-0

SPICE Cup Round 5 - Ben Wins

2009-09-23T15:12:00.005-04:00

Ben wins! He is now 4/5.

IM Gabor Papp - IM Ben Finegold
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 a6 8. O-O-O Bd7 9. f3 Be7 10. Be3 O-O 11. g4 Nxd4 12. Bxd4 e5 13. Be3 Be6 14. g5 Nd7 15. Nd5 Bxd5 16. exd5 Rc8 17. Bh3 Rc4 18. Bf5 g6 19. Bd3 Ra4 20. Kb1 Nb6 21. b3 Rh4 22. c4 Nd7 23. Rdg1 Nc5 24. Bc2 b5 25. Qf2

25...Rd4 26. Bxd4 exd4 27. Qxd4 Bxg5 28. Rxg5 Qxg5 29. b4 Nd7 30. c5 Qg2 31. Re1 Qxf3 32. c6 Nf6 33. Rc1 Rc8 34. h4 h5 35. Rd1 Kg7 36. Kb2 Qg4 37. a4 Qxd4+ 38. Rxd4 Ne8 39. Re4 Nc7 40. Bd3 Kf8 41. Kb3 Re8 42. Rf4 Re3 43. Kc2 Ke7 44. axb5 axb5 45. Kd2 Re5 46. Re4 f5 47. Rf4 Rxd5 48. Rf1 Rd4 49. Ra1 d5 50. Rg1 Rg4 51. Rxg4 hxg4
52. Ke3 Kd6 53. Kf4 Ne6+ 54. Kg3 Kxc6 55. h5 gxh5 56. Bxf5 Nd4 57. Bg6 Ne2+ 58. Kf2 Nf4 59. Be8+ Kb6 60. Kg3 Nd3 61. Bxh5 Nxb4 62. Bxg4 Kc5 63. Kf2 Kd4 64. Ke2 Kc3 65. Kd1 Nd3 66. Be6 d4 67. Bd5 Nb2+ 0-1

SPICE Cup Round 4 - Draw

2009-09-22T15:03:00.005-04:00

IM Ben Finegold - IM Ray Robson
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 c6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O dxc4 9. Bxc4 a6 10.a4 c5 11.Rd1 cxd4 12.exd4 Qc7 13.Qe2 b6 14.Bg5 h6 15.Bxf6 Nxf6 16.Rac1 Bb7 17.d5 exd5 18.Nxd5 Nxd5 19.Bxd5 Bc5 20.Qe5 1/2-1/2

Some SPICE Cup Videos

2009-09-22T14:28:00.002-04:00

Here are a couple of videos where Ben does some reporting, and some other cool stuff.

Standings After 3 Rounds

2009-09-21T23:11:00.001-04:00

A Group

1-2. Andreikin, Kuzubov 2.0
3-4. Hammer, Mamedov 1.5
5-6. So, Akobian 1.0

B Group

1. Finegold 2.5
2-5. Bhat, Antal, Perelshteyn, Papp 2.0
6. Robson 1.5
7-9. Diamant, Kuljasevic, Rensch 1.0
10. Ippolito 0.0

More Pictures from SPICE Cup

2009-09-21T23:02:00.005-04:00

Ben with Zeljka, the person who works the Monroi. She and her sister own the company.

Ben posing in front of a dragon

Ben analyzing

Ben with Lucia, a professor at Texas Tech. Ben is staying with her family during the event in their lovely home. Her husband is also a professor at Texas Tech. Their son, Brian, is about 800 rated, and they all know how to play chess.

SPICE Cup Round 3 - Ben Wins

2009-09-21T15:33:00.007-04:00

Ben wins in 15 moves! The black queen will be trapped after Ra2.

IM Ben Finegold - IM Davorin Kuljasevic
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 a6 5. a4 e6 6. Bg5 Nbd7 7. e3 Qa5 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. e4 Nxc3 10. bxc3 Qxc3+ 11. Bd2 Qb2 12. Rb1 Qa3 13. a5 c5 14. Ra1 Qb2 15. Bc4 1-0

SPICE Cup Round 2 - Draw

2009-09-20T16:10:00.005-04:00

GM Vinay Bhat - IM Ben Finegold
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 e6 6. e4 c5 7. Bxc4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Nc6 9. Be3 Bd7 10. O-O Bb4 11. f3 O-O 12. Rf2 Qe7 13. Nb3 Rfd8 14. Rd2 Be8 15. a5 Qc7 16. a6 bxa6 17. Bxa6 Ne5 18. Rxd8 Rxd8 19. Qe2 Ng6 20. g3 h5 21. Rc1 Qb8 22. Nb5 h4 23. Kf2 Nh5 24. Rg1 Be7 25. Nd2 hxg3+ 26. hxg3 Nxg3 27. Rxg3 Bh4 28. Nf1 Nf4 29. Qc4 Nh5 30. e5 Bxg3+ 31. Nxg3 Nxg3 32. Kxg3 Qxe5+ 33. Qf4 Qxf4+ 34. Bxf4 e5 35. Bg5 Rb8 36. Nxa7 Rxb2 37. Nc8 Bb5 38. Bb7 Bf1 39. Bd5 Rg2+ 40. Kh4 Rh2+ 41. Kg3 Rg2+ 42. Kh4 Bd3 43. f4 e4 44. Nd6 Re2 45. Nxf7 Kh7 46. Ne5 Bc2 47. Kg3 Rd2 48. Bc4 Bb1 49. f5 Rd6 50. Bf7 e3 51. Bg6+ Rxg6 52. fxg6+ 1/2-1/2

SPICE Cup Round 1 - Ben Wins

2009-09-19T23:50:00.009-04:00

A pretty good game, considering the perpetual time trouble (G/90, with 30 sec inc).

I could have won with 67.Qc6+. My technique was not good when I was winning, but, again, we both had less than 3 minutes the last 50 moves.

Ben

Ben Finegold - Dean Ippolito
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 h6 7. Bh4 b6 8. Be2 Bb7 9. Bxf6 Bxf6 10. cxd5 exd5 11. b4 c6 12. O-O Qd6 13. Qb3 Nd7 14. Rfd1 Rfe8 15. Rac1 Rac8 16. Ne1 Nf8 17. Bf3 Ne6 18. b5 c5 19. Bxd5 Bxd5 20. Nxd5 cxd4 21. Rxc8 Rxc8 22. Nxf6+ gxf6 23. Qd3 Qd5 24. exd4 Rc4 25. Nf3 Qxb5 26. d5 Nf4 27. Qe3 Nxd5 28. Qxh6 Rb4 29. g3 Rb1 30. Qd2 Rxd1+ 31. Qxd1 Qc4 32. Nh4 Qe4 33. h3 Nc3 34. Qd8+ Kg7 35. Qd7 Qe1+ 36. Kg2 Qe4+ 37. Kh2 Qe2 38. Qd4 Ne4 39. Kg2 Ng5 40. Nf5+ Kg6 41. Nd6 Qf3+ 42. Kh2 Qa8 43. Qd3+ Kg7 44. Nf5+ Kh8 45. Nh4 Qe4 46. Qa3 Qe6 47. Qxa7 Qxh3+ 48. Kg1 Qe6 49. Qa8+ Kh7 50. Qa6 Qe1+ 51. Kg2 Qe4+ 52. Kh2 Qd4 53. Qe2 Qe5 54. Qc2+ f5 55. f4 Qe4 56. Qd1 Ne6 57. Qh5+ Kg8 58. Nxf5 Qc2+ 59. Kh3 Qxa2 60. Nh6+ Kg7 61. Nf5+ Kg8 62. Nh6+ Kg7 63. Ng4 Kf8 64. f5 Nc5 65. Qh6+ Ke7 66. Qf6+ Ke8

67. Qxb6 Nd7 68. Qc6 Kd8 69. Kh4 Qe2 70. Qd5 Qe7+ 71. f6 Qb4 72. Kh3 Qb8 73. Qxf7 Qd6 74. Qg8+ Kc7 75. Qg7 Qd5 76. f7 Qh5+ 77. Kg2 Qd5+ 78. Kg1 Qd1+ 79. Kh2 Qe2+ 80. Kh3 Qf1+ 81. Kh2 Qe2+ 82. Kh3 Qf1+ 83. Kh4 Qh1+ 84. Kg5 Qd5+ 85. Kh6 Qd6+ 86. Kh7 Kb6 87. Qh6 Kc7 88. Qxd6+ Kxd6 89. Kg7 Ke7 90. Ne3 Ke6 91. g4 Ke5 92. Nc4+ Ke6 93. Nb6 1-0

SPICE Cup Starts Tomorrow

2009-09-18T23:25:00.004-04:00

Ben has landed at Lubbock, Texas. Round 1 starts tomorrow. Good luck to Ben!

Blindfold Blitz with Atulya

2009-09-13T10:17:00.005-04:00

Some of the Finegold family stopped by the Shetty's last night. Spencer and Atulya played some 3-min, then I played 4 games of 5 minute chess with Atulya, where I was blindfold. I blundered a lot, forgetting where things were, and playing too slow. :(

At least Michigan beat Notre Dame about 3 minutes after we arrived!

Here are the games.

Atulya-Ben

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 a6 8. O-O-O h6 9. Be3 Ng4 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. f3 Nxe3 12. Qxe3 Be7 13. e5 d5 14. Ne4 O-O 15. Qf4 Rb8 16. h4 Qb6 17. b3 dxe4 18. Qxe4 Qb4 19. Bc4 a5 20. Rd4 Bc5

21. Bd3 f5 22. exf6 Qxd4 23. Qh7+ Kf7 24. Qg6+ Kg8 25. Qxg7# 1-0

Ben-Atulya

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. e3 Bg7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Bd2 c6 7. Bd3 Nbd7 8. cxd5 cxd5 9. Qb3 Nb6 10. Ne5 Nfd7 11. f4 Nxe5 12. dxe5 d4 13. exd4 Qxd4 14. Ne2 Qd5 15. Qxd5 Nxd5 16. Be4 e6 17. Bxd5 exd5 18. Bc3 Be6 19. Nd4 a6 20. O-O-O Rfc8 21. Kd2 Rc4 22. Rc1 Rac8 23. b3 R4c7 24. Ba5 Rxc1 25. Rxc1 Rxc1 26. Kxc1 g5 27. g3 gxf4 28. gxf4 Bg4 29. Kd2 f6 30. e6 Kf8 31. Bb4+ Ke8 32. f5 Bh6+ 33. Kd3 Bf4 34. h4 Bg3 35. Ke3 Bxh4 36. Kf4 Bd1 37. e7 Bg5+ 38. Kg3 h5 39. Ne6 h4+ 40. Kf2 Bh5 41. Ng7+ Kd7 42. Nxh5 h3 43. Nxf6+??? Bxf6 44. Kg3 Bxe7 45. Bxe7 Kxe7 46. Kxh3 Kf6 47. Kg4 d4 48. Kf4 d3 49. Ke3 Kxf5 50. Kxd3 Ke6 51. Kc4 1/2-1/2 (I had less than 20 seconds, and Atulya had more than 2 minutes, but, he accepted the draw instead of winning on time).

Atulya-Ben

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 a6 8. O-O-O Bd7 9. f3 b5 10. g4 Rc8 11. Kb1 b4 12. Nce2 Ne5 13. Ng3 Nc4 14. Bxc4 Rxc4 15. Qd3 Qc7 16. Bxf6 gxf6 17. Nh5 Be7 18. Qe3 Qc5 19. Qd2 Qe5 20. Nb3 O-O 21. h4 Rfc8 22. Qh6 f5 23. gxf5 Rxc2 24. Nd4 Rg2 25. Rhg1 Rxg1 26. Rxg1+ Kh8 27. f6 Bf8 28. Qg5 Qxg5 29. hxg5 a5 30. Ng3 a4 31. Rh1 a3 32. f4 axb2 Here I resigned, as I had less than 10 seconds left, and Atulya had 30-40 seconds, and I am not sure about the last 10 moves, or if this was the final position, but it is close! 1-0

Ben-Atulya

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bg5 Ne4 6. cxd5 Nxg5 7. Nxg5 e6 8. Nf3 exd5 9. b4 O-O 10. e3 c6 11. Be2 Bg4 12. O-O Nd7 13. b5 Nf6 14. bxc6 bxc6 15. Rc1 Ne4 16. Nxe4 dxe4 17. Nd2 Bxe2 18. Qxe2 Qd5 19. Nb3 Rfc8 20. Rc5 Qd7 21. Rfc1 Rab8 22. Qc2 Rb6 23. Qxe4 Rc7 24. R5c2 Bf8 25. Na5 Qc8 26. Nxc6 Qb7 27. g3 a5 28. Kg2 a4 29. Ne5???? Qxe4+ 1-0 (I am not sure what Atulya did the last 6 moves, but, after I won his e and c pawns, I remember playing Kg2, thinking my Q was on f3, and I thought Ne5 was fine, forgetting my queen was on e4!??? oh well....

So I scored 0.5-3.5, and, Atulya could have won on time when he agreed to a draw. I was winning both games with white, easily, and forgot where things were, and, I was winning the first game with black, and missed 21.Bd3! Maybe his king was on b1 when he did that, otherwise, I would have Qa3+, although, I may have missed that too! Not sure. Also, some of the moves orders may be wrong.

Ben

Friday Knight Quads - Report by Ben

2009-09-12T02:27:00.003-04:00

Final Results, Section 1:

1 Atulya Shetty 3-0
2-4 Spencer Finegold, Will Rhee, Ryan Clayton 2-1
5-6 Jennifer Skidmore, Scott Faust 0-3

Spencer lost to Clayton, then he beat Faust and Skidmore. Atulya beat Skidmore, Clayton, and Rhee. Spencer was winning (two pieces ahead) in a round 1, then hung mate to a tactical trick.

Spencer should be ABOUT 1900 after this event. Atulya should be 2140-2150, his highest ever also.

There were 18 players in 3 sections.

Here is Spencer's best game.

J Skidmore- S Finegold, g/30

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 d6 3. f4 Nc6 4. Bb5 g6 5. Bxc6+ bxc6 6. Nf3 Bg7 7. O-O Nh6 8. d3 O-O 9. Qe1 f5 10. Ng5 Nf7 11. exf5 Nxg5 12. fxg5 Rxf5 13. Be3 Rb8 14. Rb1 Qf8 15. Bd2

15...Bd4+ 16. Kh1 Rxf1+ 17. Qxf1 Qxf1+ 18. Rxf1 Rxb2 19. Rc1 Bf5 20. Ne4 Bxe4 21. dxe4 Rxa2 22. Bf4 e5 23. Bd2 a5 24. h4 a4 25. Ba5 Ra1 26. Bd2 a3 27. c3 Rxc1+ 28. Bxc1 a2 29. Bb2 Bf2 30. g4 c4 31. Kg2 Bxh4 32. Kf3 Bxg5 33. Ke2 h5 34. Kf3 h4 35. Kg2 d5 36. Kf3 dxe4+ 37. Kxe4 h3 38. Kf3 h2 39. Kg2 Bf4 40. Kh1 e4 41. Kg2 e3 42. Kf3 h1=Q+ 43. Kxf4 e2 44. Kg5 e1=Q 45. Kxg6 Qe5 46. g5 Qh7# 0-1

Saturday Great Wraps canceled

2009-09-09T18:06:00.002-04:00

Hi all,

I have to cancel Great Wraps Saturday, as I was informed there is a football game, so Ann Arbor will be an awful place to be.

I will try to reschedule for later in the month.

Ben

(See http://finegoldchess.blogspot.com/2009/08/game-analysis-at-great-wraps.html)

The Rest of Spencer's Games

2009-09-09T00:39:00.004-04:00

For completeness, here are Spencer's games from the Michigan Open, Rounds 4-7.

Finegold,Spencer (1743) - Bailey,Greg (1945) [E16]
MI Open, 07.09.2009
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Bxd2+ 6.Nbxd2 Bb7 7.Bg2 0–0 8.0–0 d6 9.Qc2 Nbd7 10.e4 e5 11.d5 a5 12.b3 Qe7 13.Nh4 g6 14.f4 exf4 15.gxf4 Ng4 16.Ndf3 Ne3 17.Qd2 Nxf1 18.Rxf1 Nc5 19.f5 Qf6 20.Qf4 Rae8 21.e5 dxe5 22.Qg4 h5 23.Qg3 Ne4 24.Qe1 gxf5 25.Nxf5 Qxf5 26.Nh4 Qg4 27.Nf5 Kh8 28.h3 Qg5 29.Qxe4 Bc8 30.Kh1 Rg8 31.d6 Bxf5 32.Rxf5 Qxg2+ 33.Qxg2 Rxg2 34.Kxg2 cxd6 35.Rxf7 Kg8 36.Rb7 a4 37.Rxb6 axb3 38.axb3 Rd8 39.Kf3 Kf7 40.Ke4 Ke7 41.Kd5 h4 42.b4 Rd7 43.b5 Rc7 44.Rxd6 Rxc4 45.Re6+ Kd7 46.Rxe5 Rc3 47.Rh5 Rxh3 48.Rh7+ Kc8 49.Kc6 Rc3+ 50.Kb6 h3 51.Rh8+ Kd7 52.Kb7 Rb3 ½–½

Finegold,Spencer (1743) - Fischvogt,Eric (2201) [D97]
MI Open, 07.09.2009
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Qb3 dxc4 5.Qxc4 Bg7 6.e4 0–0 7.Nf3 Nfd7 8.Be3 Nb6 9.Qd3 Nc6 10.h4 Bg4 11.0–0–0 Qd7 12.h5 Bxh5 13.Rxh5 gxh5 14.Be2 Nb4 15.Qb1 Rfd8 16.e5 Qe6

17.a3 c5 18.Ng5 Qg6 19.axb4 Qxb1+ 20.Kxb1 cxd4 21.Bxd4 h6 22.Nge4 Rac8 23.Nc5 Rxd4 24.Rxd4 Bxe5 25.Rd1 h4 26.Nd5 Nxd5 27.Rxd5 Bd6 28.Nxb7 Bxb4 29.Rd8+ Rxd8 30.Nxd8 Bc5 31.f3 Kg7 32.Nc6 Kf6 33.Kc2 Kg5 34.b4 Bb6 35.Nxe7 Kf4 36.Kd3 Kg3 37.Nf5+ Kxg2 38.Nxh4+ Kf2 39.Nf5 a5 40.bxa5 Bxa5 41.Nxh6 Kg3 42.Ke4 f6 43.Ng4 Kh4 44.Kf5 Kg3 45.Nxf6 Kf2 46.Bd1 Ke3 47.f4 Kd4 48.Ke6 1–0

Ciaffone,Robert - Finegold,Spencer [D07]
MI Open, 07.09.2009
1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nc6 3.c4 Bg4 4.Nc3 Bxf3 5.exf3 e6 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Bb5 Bb4 8.Qa4 Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 Nge7 10.Ba3 0–0 11.Bxc6 bxc6 12.0–0 Re8 13.Rfe1 h6 14.g3 Rb8 15.Kg2 Nf5 16.Qxc6 Rxe1 17.Rxe1 Qg5 18.Re8+ Rxe8 19.Qxe8+ Kh7 20.Qxf7 c5 21.dxc5 Nh4+ 22.Kg1 Qd2 23.gxh4 Qxc3 24.Qf5+ Kh8 25.Qf8+ Kh7 26.Qf5+ Kh8 27.Qxd5 Qxa3 28.c6 Qb2 29.Kg2 Qc2 30.h5 1–0

Finegold,Spencer (1743) - Santiago,Ray (2000) [E10]
MI Open, 07.09.2009
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.d5 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 Nxe4 7.Qa4+ Bd7 8.Qxe4+ Be7 9.Bd3 f5 10.Qe2 0–0 11.0–0 a6 12.a4 a5 13.Nc3 Na6 14.Nb5 Bxb5 15.Bxb5 Nb4 16.Bd2 b6 17.Bxb4 axb4 18.Qe6+ Kh8 19.Rfe1 Bf6 20.Re2 Ra7 21.Rae1 Re7 22.Qxe7 Bxe7 23.Rxe7 Kg8 24.Ng5 h6 25.Rxg7+ 1–0

SPICE Cup (B Group) Pairings Announced

2009-09-09T00:35:00.003-04:00

The drawing of lots took place this morning. Here are Ben's pairings

Round 1: W vs. IM Dean Ippolito (has replaced Oliver Barbosa)

Round 2: B vs. GM Vinay Bhat

Round 3: W vs. IM Davorin Kuljasevic

Round 4: W vs. IM Ray Robson

Round 5: B vs. IM Gabor Papp

Round 6: W vs. IM Gergely Antal

Round 7: B vs. GM Andre Diamant

Round 8: W vs. FM Daniel Rensch

Round 9: B vs. GM Eugene Perelshteyn

Michigan Open Rating Report

2009-09-08T11:19:00.001-04:00

http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?200909079391

Spencer Loses and Wins

2009-09-07T23:31:00.000-04:00

Spencer lost this morning to Ciaffone and won this evening against Santiago. I estimate Spencer gained 125 rating points. He finished 4.5-3.5

Ben

Ben is Featured Twice on Susan Polgar's Blog

2009-09-07T01:16:00.004-04:00

Susan Polgar's blog had two posts regarding Ben's birthday today.

Click on the links below to read the posts

Spencer is Too Good

2009-09-06T23:32:00.001-04:00

Spencer is playing in the 2009 MI Open. Spencer is 1760, but playing in the Open section. Spencer drew a 1945 this morning, and beat a 2201 tonight (Eric Fischvogt)!! I do not think he has ever beaten a master.

Spencer is 3.5-1.5, against an average rating of 2000+. I couldn't ask for a better birthday present! I think he might break 1900 this tournament, skipping over 1800s!

Spencer has beaten Mike Smith, Jeff Aldrich, and Eric Fischvogt, and lost to Tim Moroney, and drawn Greg Bailey.

:-)

Ben

Spencer's Games in the Michigan Open - Day 1

2009-09-06T02:06:00.004-04:00

Spencer's good (well, don't look at the first game!) :)

Ben

Moroney, Tim - Finegold, Spencer [D07]
MI Open, 06.09.2009
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 Nc6 3.d4 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nf6 6.Nc3 Bg4 7.Bb5 e6 8.Qa4 Bxf3 9.Bxc6+ bxc6 10.Qxc6+ Nd7 11.gxf3 Bb4 12.Rg1 Kf8 13.Bf4 e5 14.dxe5 Nb6 15.Rxg7 Qh4 16.Bh6 Bd6 17.Rg6+ Ke7 18.exd6+ cxd6 19.Qxd6+ Ke8 20.Qe5+ 1–0

Finegold,Spencer - Aldrich,Jeff [D45]
MI Open, 06.09.2009
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Be7 7..g4 Nxg4 8.Rg1 h5 9.h3 Nh6 10.Rxg7 Nf5 11.Rg1 Nh4 12.Nxh4 Bxh4 13.e4 dxc4 14.Be3 b5 15.0–0–0 Qa5 16.d5 cxd5 17.exd5 e5 18.Qe4 Bf6 19.d6 Rb8 20.Nd5 Qd8

21.Bh6 Rxh6 22.Rg8+ Nf8 23.Nc7+ Kd7 24.h4 Bxh4 25.Bh3+ Re6 26.Bxe6+ fxe6 27.Rg7+ 1–0

Smith ,Mike - Finegold,Spencer [B99]
MI Open, 06.09.2009
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Be7 8.Qf3 Qc7 9.g4 b5 10.0–0–0 Nbd7 11.Bxf6 gxf6 12.Bg2 0–0 13.h4 Kh8 14.g5 Bb7 15.Qh5 f5 16.Qe2 fxe4 17.Bxe4 Bxe4 18.Nxe4 d5 19.Nc3 Qxf4+ 20.Kb1 Bc5 21.Nf3 Nb6 22.h5 b4 23.Rdf1 bxc3 24.Ne5 Qe3 25..Qxe3 Bxe3 26.Rf3 Bd4 27.Nxf7+ Kg7 28.h6+ Kg6 29.Rhf1 Nc4

30.Ne5+ Bxe5 31.Rxf8 Rxf8 32.Rxf8 cxb2 33.Rf6+ Bxf6 34.gxf6 e5 35.a4 e4 36.f7 Kxf7 37.a5 e3 38.c3 e2 39.Ka2 e1Q 40.Kb3 b1Q+ 41.Ka4 Qb5# 0–1

Happy Birthday

2009-09-06T00:58:00.000-04:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BEN, WHO TURNS 40 TODAY!!!

Michigan Open

2009-09-06T00:57:00.004-04:00

Ron Finegold (Ben's dad)

My dad is 2.5-0.5, drawing Atulya Shetty in round 3. Spencer is 2-1, losing to Tim Moroney, and beating Jeff Aldrich and Mike Smith. Both have gained a LOT of rating points. Spencer should break 1800 for the first time if he keeps it up! :)

I am not playing....but, today I turn 40.. Happy Birthday to me.

Ben

Game Analysis at Great Wraps

2009-09-04T22:54:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone,

Saturday, Sept 12, we will have a game analysis session at Great Wraps in Ann Arbor of everyone's games from the Michigan Open. Bring all your games, and your State Championship Trophies!

This meeting, the price is right, at only $40 per person!!

http://www.michess.org/tools/viewevent.php?eventID=2045

Now... I want everyone to go 7-0!!

Best wishes,

Ben

SPICE Cup (B Group) List of Participants

2009-08-30T10:30:00.006-04:00

As you all know, Ben will be playing in the SPICE Cup (B Group) tournament in three weeks (September 19-29) in Lubbock, Texas. Here is the list of participants in FIDE rating order:

1 IM Gabor Papp 2562
2 IM Davorin Kuljasevic 2547
3 GM Eugene Perelshteyn 2541
4 IM Ray Robson 2527
5 GM Andre Diamant 2526
6 IM Ben Finegold 2515
7 Gergely Antal 2486
8 GM Vinay Bhat 2474
9 IM Oliver Barbosa 2454
10 FM Danny Rensch 2388

Ben will need 6-3 for his last GM norm. One round per day.

Good luck to Ben!

NACA FIDE Invitational Has Been Rated

2009-08-30T10:27:00.002-04:00

The 23rd North American FIDE Invitational has been rated - and Ben is still 2600 (barely)

Round 9 Draw

2009-08-26T15:41:00.002-04:00

Here is my game with Dean:

[Event "NACA FIDE INVITATIONAL"]
[Site "Holiday Inn, Skokie, IL"]
[Date "2009.08.26"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Ippolito, D."]
[Black "Finegold, B."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E60"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 c5 5. Bg2 Qa5+ 6. Nc3 Ne4 7. Qd3 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Nc5 9. Qd1 Nc6 10. Be3 Ne6 11. Nxe6 Bxc3+ 12. bxc3 dxe6 13. O-O O-O 14. Qb3 Qc7 15. Qb5 Bd7 16. Rfd1 Rfd8 17. Rab1 Rab8 18. Bf4 e5 19. Bxc6 Bxc6 20. Qxe5 Qxe5 21. Bxe5 Rxd1+ 22. Rxd1 Ra8 23. f3 f6 24. Bc7 Kf7 25. Rd8 Rxd8 26. Bxd8 Bd7 27. c5 Be6 28. a3 Ke8 29. Ba5 Kd7 30. Kf2 Kc6 31. Bd8 Kd7 32. Ba5 f5 33. e4 fxe4 34. fxe4 Ba2 35. Ke3 e5 36. Kd3 Bb1+ 37. Ke3 h5 38. h3 g5 39. h4 gxh4 40. gxh4 Kc6 41. Bd8 Kd7 1/2-1/2

Round 9 Pairings and Results
IM Mulyar - IM Robson: 1/2 - 1/2
GM Mitkov - GM Kacheishvili: 0 - 1
IM Ippolito - IM Finegold: 1/2 - 1/2
FM Felecan - GM Amanov: 0 - 1
GM Izoria - IM Vigorito: 1 - 0
IM Shankland - Molner: 1 - 0
IM Arnold - IM Vishnuvardhan: 1 - 0
IM Sarkar - FM Yang: 0 - 1
Thaler - FM Kleiman: 0 - 1
Santarius - FM Chow: 1 - 0
FM Shankar - IM Young: 0 - 1
FM Betaneli - FM Pitterson: 1/2 - 1/2
FM Lee - Matthews: 1 - 0
Vaja - Velikanov: 0 - 1

FINAL STANDINGS
1 Robson 7
2 Kacheishvili 6.5
3-4 Mulyar, Amanov 6
5-8 Izoria, Finegold, Shankland, Ippolito 5.5

Robson gets his second GM norm. Molner gets an IM norm.

Ben

Round 9 Pairings

2009-08-26T00:56:00.000-04:00

IM Mulyar - IM Robson
GM Mitkov - GM Kacheishvili
IM Ippolito - IM Finegold
FM Felecan - GM Amanov
GM Izoria - IM Vigorito
IM Shankland - Molner
IM Arnold - IM Vishnuvardhan
IM Sarkar - FM Yang
Thaler - FM Kleiman
Santarius - FM Chow
FM Shankar - IM Young
FM Betaneli - FM Pitterson
FM Lee - Matthews
Vaja - Velikanov

Round 8 Results

2009-08-26T00:55:00.006-04:00

IM Robson - IM Shankland: 1 - 0
GM Kacheishvili - IM Mulyar: 1/2 - 1/2
IM Finegold - GM Izoria: 1/2 - 1/2
GM Mitkov - IM Ippolito: 1/2 - 1/2
GM Amanov - Santarius: 1 - 0
FM Felecan - IM Arnold: 1 - 0
Molner - IM Vigorito: 1/2 - 1/2
FM Kleiman - IM Sarkar: 1/2 - 1/2
IM Vishnuvardhan - Thaler: 1/2 - 1/2
FM Yang - FM Lee: 1 - 0
IM Young - FM Adamson: 1/2 - 1/2
FM Chow - FM Betaneli: 1/2 - 1/2
Fouts - FM Shankar: 0 - 1
FM Pitterson - Velikanov: 1/2 - 1/2
Matthews - Vaja: 1 - 0

Standings After 8 rounds

1 Robson 6.5
2-3 Kacheishvili, Mulyar 5.5
4-8 Mitkov, Finegold, Amanov, Ippolito, Felecan 5
9-12 Izoria, Shankland, Vigorito, Molner 4.5

Robson got a GM norm. Molner has an IM norm.

Thaler needs to win to get an IM norm. He is white against Kleiman.

The pairings for these 12 are:
IM Mulyar - IM Robson
GM Mitkov - GM Kacheishvili
IM Ippolito - IM Finegold
FM Felecan - GM Amanov
GM Izoria - IM Vigorito
IM Shankland - Molner

Round 8 - Draw

2009-08-25T22:23:00.001-04:00

I was slightly worse the whole game, albeit trying to win. I had a big time advantage throughout, but, that did not seem to matter.

The last round was changed to 10AM CDT.

Ben

[Event "NACA FIDE INVITATIONAL"]
[Site "Holiday Inn Skokie, IL"]
[Date "2009.08.25"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Finegold, B."]
[Black "Izoria, Z."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D30"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. e3 c5 4. dxc5 e6 5. c4 Bxc5 6. cxd5 exd5 7. Be2 O-O 8. O-O Nc6 9. a3 a5 10. Nc3 Re8 11. Bd2 d4 12. exd4 Nxd4 13. Nxd4 Bxd4 14. Bf3 Qb6 15. Na4 Qa7 16. Bc3 Bxc3 17. Nxc3 Be6 18. Qa4 Bd7 19. Qb3 Be6 20. Qa4 Bd7 21. Qb3 Be6 1/2-1/2

Round 8 Pairings

2009-08-25T19:30:00.002-04:00

Round 8 Pairings
IM Robson - IM Shankland
GM Kacheishvili - IM Mulyar
IM Finegold - GM Izoria
IM Ippolito - GM Mitkov
GM Amanov - Santarius
FM Felecan - IM Arnold
Molner - IM Vigorito
FM Kleiman - IM Sarkar
IM Vishnuvardhan - Thaler
FM Yang - FM Lee
IM Young - FM Adamson
FM Chow - FM Betaneli
Fouts - FM Shankar
FM Pitterson - Velikanov
Matthews - Vaja

Round 7 Results

2009-08-25T19:30:00.001-04:00

Round 7 Pairings and Results
IM Shankland - GM Kacheishvili: 1/2 - 1/2
IM Robson - IM Finegold: 1 - 0
IM Mulyar - GM Amanov: 1 - 0
GM Izoria - Molner: 1/2 - 1/2
Thaler - GM Mitkov: 0 - 1
IM Ippolito - FM Kleiman: 1 - 0
IM Sarkar - FM Felecan: 0 - 1
IM Arnold - FM Betaneli: 1 - 0
IM Vigorito - IM Young: 1 - 0
Santarius - FM Shankar: 1 - 0
FM Lee - FM Chow: 1/2 - 1/2
Velikanov - FM Adamson: 1/2 - 1/2
FM Pitterson - IM Vishnuvardhan: 0 - 1
Matthews - FM Yang: 0 - 1
Vaja - Fouts: 1 - 0

Round 7 - Ben Loses

2009-08-25T16:53:00.007-04:00

I thought I was winning most of the game, but, probably I was somewhere between slightly and clearly better. We both made mistakes, then, with less than 5 minutes, I did not play well.

His 5. Nxf7!? was only played once in my database, and, he thought a long time, so I think he just made it up. The way we played was best, and then, he must have overlooked 9...Re8! There was a game Ulibin-Vasiukov, where white played 9. Qxe4 and Rybka says it is about equal there.

We both spent a lot of time in the opening and early middlegame, and then we both had less than 5 minutes the last 17 moves or so.

This is the second game I have lost this year. I put up a better fight this game, than my other, against Sargissian.

Oh well.

Ben

[Event "NACA FIDE INVITATIONAL"]
[Site "Holiday Inn Skokie, IL"]
[Date "2009.08.25"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Robson, R."]
[Black "Finegold, B."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C65"]

Notes by Ben

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. 0-0 Bc5 5. Nxe5 Nxe4 6. Nxf7!? Kxf7 7. Qh5+ g6 8. Qd5+ Kg7 9. Bxc6?! Re8! 10. Qxe4 Rxe4 11. Bxe4 d5 12. Bf3 g5!? 13. Nc3 c6 14. d3 Bf5 15. Bd2 Qf6 16. Rae1 Rf8 17. Kh1 h5!? 18. Bd1 h4 19. h3 Qg6 20. Be3 Bd6?! 21. Bxa7 Qf6 22. Be3 Kh7 23. Bd2 Rg8 24. f3 Bb8 25. Be3?! Qd6 26. Bg1 Qb4 27. Ne2 Re8 28. b3 Qd2?! [28...Bxd3!] 29. Bd4 Be5 30. Bf2 Bg6 31. Kg1 d4?

32. f4 Bf6?? [32...gxf4] 33. fxg5 Qxg5 34. Nxd4 Rg8 35. Bg4?! Qc5 36. Nf3 Qxc2 37. Bxh4 Bc3? [37...Bxh4 38. Nxh4 Bxd3] 38. Rc1 Qb2 39. Bg5 Bxd3 40. Rf2 Bd4 41. Nxd4 Qxd4 42. Bf6 Qe3 43. Rd1 Be4??+- [43...Kg6±] 44. Rd7+ Kg6 45. Bd4 Qg3 46. Re7 Bd5 47. Rf6+ 1-0

Round 7 Pairings

2009-08-25T02:19:00.001-04:00

Round 7 Pairings

IM Shankland - GM Kacheishvili
IM Robson - IM Finegold
IM Mulyar - GM Amanov
GM Izoria - Molner
Thaler - GM Mitkov
IM Ippolito - FM Kleiman
IM Sarkar - FM Felecan
IM Arnold - FM Betaneli
IM Vigorito - IM Young
Santarius - FM Shankar
FM Lee - FM Chow
Velikanov - FM Adamson
FM Pitterson - IM Vishnuvardhan
Matthews - FM Yang
Vaja - Fouts

Round 6 Results

2009-08-25T02:16:00.000-04:00

Round 6 Pairings and Results

GM Amanov - IM Robson: 1/2 - 1/2
GM Kacheishvili - IM Ippolito: 1 - 0
Molner - IM Finegold: 0 - 1
IM Mulyar - Thaler: 1 - 0
FM Kleiman - GM Izoria: 1/2 - 1/2
FM Felecan - IM Shankland: 0 - 1
IM Vishnuvardhan - IM Sarkar: 0 - 1
IM Young - IM Arnold: 1/2 - 1/2
GM Mitkov - FM Lee: 1 - 0
FM Betaneli - IM Vigorito: 1/2 - 1/2
FM Adamson - Santarius: 1/2 - 1/2
FM Shankar - FM Pitterson: 1/2 - 1/2
FM Chow - Fouts: 1 - 0
Velikanov - Matthews: 1/2 - 1/2
FM Yang - Vaja: 1 - 0

Standings After Six rounds:

1-3 Kacheishvili, Finegold, Robson 4.5
4-6 Amanov, Shankland, Mulyar 4
7-13 Izoria, Mitkov, Ippolito, Molner, Sarkar, Kleiman, Thayer 3.5
14-18 Felecan, Arnold, Young, Betaneli, Santarius 3

Round 6 - Ben Wins

2009-08-24T23:17:00.003-04:00

Ben wins! He is tied for 1st at 4.5-1.5. He needs 2.5 (possibly 2) out of 3 AND play 2 more GMs to get the last norm.

Mackenzie Molner - Ben Finegold
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 a6 8. O-O-O Bd7 9. f4 b5 10. Bxf6 gxf6 11. Nxc6 Bxc6 12. Bd3 b4 13. Ne2 Qb6 14. Kb1 Qc5 15. f5 e5 16. c3 a5 17. cxb4 Qxb4 18. Nc3 Rb8 19. Nd5 Bxd5 20. exd5 Bh6 21. Qxb4 Rxb4 22. Rhe1 Ke7 23. Re4 Rhb8 24. Rxb4 Rxb4 25. Kc2 Rf4 26. Rf1 Rd4 27. Rd1 Rxd5 28. Bc4 Rc5 29. b3 Kd7 30. Rd5 Kc6 31. Rxc5+ Kxc5 32. Bxf7

32...e4 33. a3 Be3 34. b4+ axb4 35. axb4+ Kd4 36. b5 Ke5 37. Be6 d5 38. Bd7 d4 39. g4 d3+ 40. Kc3 Bb6 41. h3 Ba5+ 0-1

Round 5 - Draw

2009-08-24T15:40:00.002-04:00

[Event "NACA FIDE INVITATIONAL"]
[Site "Holiday Inn, Skokie"]
[Date "2009.08.24"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Finegold, B."]
[Black "Kacheishvili, G."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D36"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 c6 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Qc2 Be7 7. Bg5 g6 8. e3 Bf5 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 Nbd7 11. O-O O-O 12. Rab1 a5 13. Rfe1 Re8 14. Bxf6 Nxf6 15. Nd2 Kg7 16. a3 Bd6 17. e4 dxe4 18. Ndxe4 Re6 19. Nxf6 Rxe1+ 20. Rxe1 Qxf6 21. Ne4 Re8 22. Re3 Qd8 23. Nxd6 Rxe3 24. Nf5+ gxf5 25. Qxe3 Qd5 26. h4 h6 27. Kh2 a4 28. Kg3 1/2-1/2