Is Ben Finegold as big a jerk as he seems in his videos?

I continue to express great surprise at the number of thoughtful and original comments that continue to be made on this multiyear thread.

There should be an Award for the longest running Thread in the Forums.

Ben is a fun loving, trash talking, brilliant guy.  He is a generous and gifted teacher who has a gift for story telling. Not a jerk at all.

After knocking out his first two GM norms back to back, it took Ben how long to get his final norm?

20 years?

I grew up in SE Michigan.

When I first started playing tournament chess, Finegold was the local guy who was on the fast track, to possibly becoming the next Bobby Fischer.

Very exciting.

The I actually met the drink.

Total let-down.

Met the guy years ago. Not friendly.

But it's not a big deal. I wasn't looking to make friends lol.

So sure, some would probably use the word jerk to describe him.

Yeah, probably.

Umm, I don't know about that one...

Yeah, he's fun to listen to for sure.

Nothing you said before has anything to do with being a jerk. You can be a fun loving brilliant storyteller and still be a jerk.

 definitely think he come across as arrogant, things like "Im grandmaster Ben Finegold, and you're not".

for what it's worth,

Ben riffs on what passes for American Pop Culture.   
And while Ben's FIDE Rating is 2500+,
his RIFF Rating is about 1,850 ... plus tax.

The "I'm ____, and you're not" schtick comes from a bit done by Chevy Chase, who was an American comedian/actor, and at one time funny on a show here called Saturday Night Live, which was, at one time, funny.   

Just like Ben ... rim-shot!




I could footnote/annotate Ben's pop cultural references for the audience... if he paid me.  Or if the audience paid me ... I mean if both of them pitched in ...

In the videos and lectures, I don't pick up a whiff of Ben being a jerk.  If he's mean to people in real life, bit of an arrogant ass, and such ... eh.   But, during the talks/lectures ... the parts that aren't directly chess-related tend to be riffs.

In other news, Paul Morphy, like Francisco Franco, is still dead.

Ben Finegold is your typical overweight, nearly dead, awkward, autistic chess player with bad teeth and bad hygiene. Unfriendly and bizarre. There are only a few IMs or GMs who are socially normal. John Bartholomew is one, and why he's the IM with the most followers on YouTube. Danny King seems pretty normal. Erik Kislik is another. I can't watch their YouTube pages unless they seem normal to me

The one thing I'd say he adds to chess culture in general is not taking things too seriously. If you look back at the beginning of this thread its 95% people taking things too seriously (including his own son). So many young people in chess take things too seriously in general. His delivery could use work, but there is a lesson to be learned for sure

Ben is great. totally enjoy his vids. 

come on.. i think youre the one with poor sense of humor here..  his approach to teaching make it more casual and the jokes are just  like jokes friends.. the audience must have glass heart if theyre offended by them

I like finegold, he makes me laugh 

Haters gonna hate, if you want your popo patted, then Ben Finegold is not for you. I find it refreshing to find a GM mix humor with his teaching and could care less about political correctness. Toughen up cupcakes and put on your big girl panties.

Man up or put your big girl panties on, whichever you prefer. I find his humor refreshing so don't hate on the man just because you don't understand his humor.

Is he Autistic? Not that there’s anything wrong with that because my child is? Funny the first year of this century is the year 2000 not 2001.

Incorrect. The first year of the first century was 1, and it consisted of the years 1-100. Add twenty centuries. You're welcome. 

I thoroughly enjoy his humor, his the only guy I can watch without falling asleep

Putting people down and being arrogant is 'casual'?
No thanks, I like my teachers to be respectful and not act like know-it-alls, however smart they may be. Knowledge is power, and he wields his in a way that is not at all conducive to young people learning. I know many astute young players who would much rather other teachers than his slimy coy attempt at 'being funny while teaching'.

And fanboys gonna fawn.