GM Ben Finegold

Bio: In January of 2010, Ben Finegold took on a full-time position as the resident GM at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. He has been ranked as high as 2662, at which point he was neck and neck with GM Larry Christiansen for the distinction of being the highest rated American born chess player in the country. For many years,  Ben Finegold was missing the two most vital letters in a pro chess player’s career, “G” and “M", giving him the double-edged honor of the "strongest IM in America." That all changed in 2009. Just after his 40th birthday, Ben earned his final GM norm at the SPICE Cup in Lubbock, Texas.

Ben Finegold is also somewhat understated; in contrast to many confident grandmasters who strut around with their heads in the clouds, Ben is funny, friendly, and apt to make self-effacing jokes. His description of his style is characteristically modest: “I play simple moves and try not to blunder or get in time trouble.” He won first place at the 2006 U.S Championship blogging contest, and now he has a blog of his own (Ben's Blog: Musings of a Grandmaster) where he posts anecdotes, games and crosstables from his tournaments.