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 ...

Grandmaster Ben Finegold joins IM John Watson on Chess Talk. Finegold is America's latest addition to the ranks of GM. Although this show is restricted to ICC members only, Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis members can listen to this show in full by going to this link: http://bit.ly/8L2lf6

Life certainly begins at 40 for Finegold, who, after years of trying and being ranked as one of the most experienced IMs in the U.S., 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 ...

CINCINNATI -- Grandmaster Ben Finegold finished in a four-way tie for first place at the King's island Open in Cincinnati with a score of 4.0/5.0. Three other players, Seth Homa, FM Peter Bereolos and FM Andrew Karklins also finished with four points. Because of tiebreaks, Finegold brought home $1,220, which was slightly more than the $1,140 that each of the other three first-place finishers received.

WIM Iryna Zenyuk also had an excellent tournament as her 3.5/5.0 performance secured a share of fifth place. The USCF's JW Holes was on hand to interview Finegold and Zenyuk following their performance.

SAINT LOUIS -- The 2009 U.S. Chess Champion, Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura, has agreed to participate in the Saint Louis Open, scheduled to be held at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center, April 10-11 in 2010.

Another GM, the CCSCSL's own GM-in-Residence Ben Finegold, will also be in town for the event, which will make this the strongest field in the history of the Saint Louis Open. The presence of these two chess giants is sure to attract interest from other masters around the region and, perhaps, the rest of the country.

SAINT LOUIS -- The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis has hired Grandmaster (GM) Ben Finegold as its first GM-in-residence. As GM-in-residence, Finegold will give weekly lectures, provide lessons to members and others, teach summer camps and work with the club’s scholastic program.

Finegold is expected to start shortly after New Year’s. The Detroit native, who now lives in Ann Arbor, Mich., will move to St. Louis to work at the club full time.

Few chess clubs have full-time GMs-in-residence.