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Our Resident Grandmaster: Ben Finegold

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The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis is excited to have GM Ben Finegold back as its Resident Grandmaster through the rest of May! Finegold’s unique style combined with an incredible depth of experience across all levels of chess has earned him an outstanding reputation as a superior trainer to children, amateurs and tournament players alike. 

Taught how the pieces move at 5 years old, Finegold was born into a heavy chess-playing family (his father once played Bobby Fischer), and he has remained one of the more impactful American chess players for several decades. Finegold was a U.S. Junior champion in 1989 who has since played in nine U.S. Championships, also a recipient of the prestigious Samford Chess Fellowship in 1993.

Finegold moved from Michigan in 2009 to become the CCSCSL’s very first Resident GM, a position that leads all of the Club’s weekly lectures and programming, and he has since become Saint Louis’ own local chess celebrity. Still an active competitor and an integral player on our national champion U.S. Chess League team, the Saint Louis Arch Bishops, Finegold is also an outstanding commentator for live audiences at the Club’s larger events, including the 2015 U.S. Chess Championships and the annual super-tournament Sinquefield Cup.

Catch Finegold at any of the CCSCSL’s weekly lectures, including the Sunday kids classes, or let him fine-tune your game individually with a private lesson!