Ben Finegold

By Ken West

The two Saint Louis grandmasters prevailed in the first day of rapid chess in the international match Tuesday at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, each notching a win with white and holding with the black pieces.

By Ken West

Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura evened the score at 1.5 in his international match against GM Ruslan Ponomariov Thursday at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. Ben Finegold and Ray Robson drew their second straight game.

Sixteen-year-old Ray Robson, America's youngest grandmaster, is gaining some valuable match experience against the experienced GM Ben Finegold.

By Ken West

In both games, white played e4; in both games white refused to trade queens to remove black’s castling privilege; and both games ended in a draw.

By Ken West

Grandmaster Ruslan Ponomariov uncorked Nf3 on the fifth move against Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura’s King’s Indian Defense and went on to win the first game of their international match Tuesday at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.

World No. 7 GM Hikaru Nakamura will take on World No. 11 GM Ruslan Ponomariov in a 10-game match in Saint Louis this month.

By Ken West

The first-ever international match at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis begins 3:30 p.m. CDT Tuesday.

SAINT LOUIS, January 25, 2010 -- This Sunday, the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis and the Missouri History Museum will put on a Chess Carnival in conjunction with the exhibit Treasures of NAPOLEON. Join Grandmaster (GM) Ben Finegold and chess club staff at the History Museum's MacDermott Grand Hall from noon to 3 p.m. on Sunday, Janaury 30.

Grandmaster Ben Finegold continues his video lecture series with his next installment. Ben's lectures are free for club members and run most Thursday nights beginning at 7 p.m. CDT. 

Today, GM Finegold covers games from the U.S. Chess League. GM Finegold is a member of Saint Louis' new USCL expansion team, the Arch Bishops. The Saint Louis team features the two highest-rated players in the league in GMs Hikaru Nakamura and Yury Shulman, and with GM Finegold, the Arch Bishops bring one of the most formidable line-ups ever seen in USCL league play.

GM Ben Finegold and IM Irina Krush played a long and hard-fought draw in a round 1 match that was rescheduled because Krush made a late arrival to the tourney. Finegold had the black pieces against a determined Krush, and the two fierce competitors slugged out a nail-biting draw.

As time was winding down, both players found themselves in time trouble relying only on their increment to save them. the game ended in a rook vs. rook draw, which leaves GM Finegold with a score of 2/4 and IM Krush a score of 1.5/4.

Ben is in action today in Lubbock, Tex., at the Spring SPICE Cup. He is squaring off against IM Gergely Antal in round three. Ben has taken some time out of his busy schedule to post some pics to his personal Facebook site and ours as well. Check the photos from round one here: http://bit.ly/aLKMn2

Our Resident GM was recently featured on ChessCafe.com. You can access part one of his interview by clicking the link here: 

http://www.chesscafe.com/scholastic/scholastic.htm

Grandmaster Ben Finegold will begin his series of weekly lectures tonight, Thursday, January 14, at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. The lecture will start at 7 p.m. each Thursday and is free to all club members.

Don't miss this fantastic opportunity to pick the brain of one of the country's top players as he offers masterful insight and analysis. GM Finegold will cover a new topic each week, so come on out and improve your game with one of the best!

If you can't make the lecture, never fear. The staff at the CCSCSL ...