Journey to the National Master Title, Part 17

I scored 1.5/4 in the January 10, 2026 Columbus Winter Open, losing 14 rating points to drop my rating to 1966. The key game happened in the third round when I battled top seeded NM Amogh Tripathi. After an interesting struggle, we reached this critical position with Black (Tripathi) to move:

 

He played 51...Rxf2??, which loses by force after 52.Rb6 Kd7 Otherwise Bb4 wins the pinned B. 53. Kd5 During the game, I missed that in this line my Bc3 prevents Black from checking my K with his R. This is an example of what GM Nikolai Krogius called "the retained image": when I visualized the position, I pictured Black's R being on f1, making ...Rd1+ possible. After 53...Be7 54. Rb7+ Ke8 55. Bxe5, White's powerful passed pawn and strongly centralized pieces are too much for Black to overcome.

Unfortunately, I quickly played 52. Rb2. My opponent replied 52...Rf3, and here I betrayed myself with a combination of excitement and relaxation. I was excited when I first noticed the Rb6 idea, and I relaxed because I thought that there was no way I could lose from here. I played 53. Rb6 and was dismayed after my opponent replied 53...Re3, winning my e pawn by force. I lamented not playing 53. Re2, after which the position is equal--but even after my imprecise 53rd move, White's pieces are still active enough to prevent defeat. I defended accurately despite drifting into time pressure. I enjoyed a time advantage for most of the game, but I had less than three minutes remaining when critical decisions still had to be made:

 

Here, Black has just checked my K. One move holds, and all other moves lose. I played 64. Kd1?? The drawing idea is to play 64. Ke1: if Black moves his K forward then White takes e4 with check and then slides the R back to e5 to pick up Black's last pawn. Black can take the Bc3 with his K in this line, but even if Black wins both of White's remaining pawns, R+B versus R is a book draw (and I held that draw in the second round of this tournament). My opponent erred with 64...e3 instead of playing 64...Kc4, giving me a chance to hold with 65. Re4 (preventing Black's K from advancing further)--but I played 65. h4??, after which 65...Kc4 leads to a forced win. Full credit to my opponent for his resourcefulness in time pressure; he played the last 20-plus moves of the game with two seconds left plus the five second time delay. Tripathi finished with 3.5/4 to claim clear first while I flamed out in the last round, eschewing a draw in an equal endgame before blundering and losing.

I bounced back to scored a solid 3/4 in the January 11, 2026 East Market Swiss, gaining five rating points to improve my rating to 1971. I was the fourth seeded player out of 14, and I finished clear second. I won my first round game versus Aadya Kakarla--the 25th highest rated 10 year old girl in the country--with a pretty checkmate in the middle of the board: 

My only loss was to top seeded NM Broderick Bauml, who took clear first with 4/4. Bauml obtained an advantage against me with Black in the second round, but after he lost his Q for two minor pieces and a P I had a decisive advantage, albeit in a complicated position. Bauml defended resourcefully even as his clock ticked below 30 seconds (G/45 time control with 10 second increment). I prosecuted my advantage effectively, but when my time dropped below three minutes I faltered. Here, my opponent has just played 57...Be7??

I replied with what should be a winning tactical blow: 58. Nxe5! My N is immune because of the threat of Qxe5+ followed by Qxe1, so my opponent played 58...Nxh4. I would have had a decisive advantage after 59. Nc6, but instead I played 59. Qc7??, enabling Black to create a blockade after 59...Nexf3+--but my opponent returned the favor with 59...Nf5?? and I answered with 60. f4. Now, if Black takes the Ne5 then White's connected passed pawns are powerful, and if Black does not eliminate the Ne5 then Nc6 followed by Qd7 and Nd8 gives White a winning attack. The game continued 60...Nc2 61. Nc6 Bf8 62. Nd8. The text is more than sufficient, but even stronger is 62. Qd7 followed by 63. Qe8, after which Black's blockade collapses.

We blitzed out several moves in mutual time pressure, and I recklessly sacrificed my N to get connected passed pawns, giving my opponent a winning advantage until he played 72...Nge3+??:

 

Now, 73. Kh1 holds the balance, but I instantly played 73. Kxh2 and lost my Q after 73...Bd6+. As I noted about my loss to Tripathi, I give full credit to Bauml for defending resourcefully for so long that I ended up in time pressure before committing the fatal blunder. National Masters often find a way to draw or even win despite making early mistakes, and that combination of tenacity plus tactical resourcefulness sets Masters apart from non-Masters.

I played well in the January 17-18, 2026 Queen City Open, scoring 3/4 to tie for third-sixth overall (and first-second U2200/U2000) while gaining 23 rating points to boost my rating to 1994. Highlights include drawing with Keya Jha (the second highest rated 11 year old girl in the country, 2150), and beating Joseph Kleban (2016) in the last round to avenge my last round loss to Kleban in the December 21, 2025 East Market Swiss. IM Ron Burnett and NM Aryan Balyan shared first place with 3.5/4. I have known Burnett since the late 1980s, and between rounds we had some interesting conversations about chess improvement. I told him about my attempt to earn the National Master title, a goal which he believes is attainable for me. Among other tips, he suggested that it is valuable to learn all of the basic checkmates "by hand"; it is not sufficient to be able to figure them out, because it is often the case that games are decided in time pressure. Even if a checkmate such as K+B+N versus K never comes up in one's games, learning that checkmate by hand improves one's understanding of how pieces coordinate. Burnett built his chess understanding in the late 1970s and early 1980s by playing countless training games against chess computers; he fine-tuned his chess understanding to the extent that he surged from the class ranks to well above National Master during a five year span.

I scored 4/5 in the January 31-February 1, 2026 Cardinal Open, finishing second-fifth in the U2200 section while gaining 19 rating points to lift my rating to 2013. I started out 3/3, setting up a round four game versus number one seeded NM Deshawn Kelley (2171), who was the only other player with a perfect score. I drew with Kelley, which meant that a last round win would clinch no worse than a tie for first, while a draw would clinch no worse than a second place tie. In the last round, I drew with Charithra Arvind (1827), the 19th highest rated 17 year old girl in the country, and Kelley won to claim clear first. This is the first time that I have not lost a game in consecutive two day classical tournaments; my combined score in the Queen City Open and the Cardinal Open is five wins and four draws. After round three, I played in the Cardinal Open Blitz, and I had my worst speed chess tournament result ever, going 0/7; in my previous over the board speed chess tournament at Kings Island in November 2025, I scored 6/8 to win the U2000 prize, so I was quite surprised to have this kind of "perfect score," particularly considering how well I am playing in classical chess. Classical chess and speed chess are similar, but it is fair to say that they are distinct sports to the extent that a player can do well at one and not do as well at the other without this being shocking, although the stark difference between 4/5 in classical and 0/7 in speed during the same weekend is surprising.

I started out 2/2 in the February 8, 2026 East Market Swiss, extending my unbeaten streak to 13 games--but then I lost in the third round to Joseph Kleban before squandering a winning position (and throwing away a simple draw) versus NM Broderick Bauml. I lost 11 rating points to drop my rating to 2002. 

I scored just 1/3 in the February 14, 2026 Columbus G/60 tournament, losing 22 rating points to drop my rating to 1980. After drawing my first two games, I declined a draw in round three before blundering and losing.

On February 21, 2026, I played in the second G/25+5 tournament held at the Kleptz YMCA in Englewood. I won the first event (held on December 20, 2025) with a 4/4 score, and I scored 4/4 this time, gaining 10 rating points to lift my rating to 1990. Rob Dennis of the Dayton Chess Society (the successor to the Dayton Chess Club) did an excellent job running the event, and he was also my last round opponent. I finished a successful chess weekend by scoring 3/4 in the February 22, 2026 East Market Swiss, tying for third-seventh and gaining eight rating points to improve my rating to 1998.

I scored 3/4 in the February 28, 2026 Cincinnati Tornado, gaining 10 rating points to push my rating back over 2000 (2008). I tied for third-ninth, and I won the U2001 prize (my official published February 2026 rating was 1994). 

In recent years, my rating fell below 2000 soon after I pushed it above 2000, so it felt great to score 4/4 in the March 8, 2026 East Market Swiss to gain 37 rating points and lift my rating to 2045, my highest rating since I had a 2060 rating in November 2022.

My daughter Rachel and I played in the March 15, 2026 Chess Earth Rapid tournament, a six round Quick-rated event featuring a G/15 +5 time control. I scored 4/6 to finish fifth-sixth, while Rachel scored 2/6 despite playing higher rated players in five of her six games. The player who beat me in the fifth round, Shashank Palla, scored 5/6 to take clear first place. His USCF Quick rating vaulted from 1519 to 1704. I lost 36 points to drop my Quick rating to 1939. Here are two pictures from the Chess Earth Rapid tournament (the second one shows one of the positions from a game that Rachel and I played on the oversize chess set after the tournament ended):

 

Rachel and I played in the March 19, 2026 Cincinnati Open Qualifier Quads, a Quick-rated event with G/24 with five second time delay time control. I scored 2/3 in the top quad to finish second, while Rachel scored 1/3 in the sixth quad. In the last round, I spoiled a winning position against top seeded Ashwin Kumar, playing an unsound sacrifice. Kumar is a promising junior player who is the 18th highest rated 12 year old (2134) in the United States. I gained seven points to lift my Quick rating to 1946.

I scored 3.5/4 in the March 28, 2026 Cincinnati Tornado, gaining 18 rating points to lift my rating to 2063, which is my highest rating since I had a 2080 rating in October 2022. I tied for first-second with top seeded NM Aryan Balyan, and I won the "Master Bounty" prize by drawing with Balyan in the last round. This is the third time that I won the Cincinnati Tornado "Master Bounty" ($100 for beating the top seeded Master, or $50 for drawing the top seeded Master): I drew with NM Pratik Shriwas (2378) in the July 30, 2016 Cincinnati Tornado, and I defeated NM Yuri Barnakov (2298) in the September 24, 2016 Cincinnati Tornado en route to finishing first-second and gaining 43 points to improve my rating to 2150. My rating has not been higher than 2100 since 2016. 

In Journey to the National Master Title, Part 16, I listed four chess goals for 2026. Here are those goals, with notes about how I have performed so far this year:

1) Gain 25 rating points per quarter. I gained 83 rating points in the first quarter of 2026, improving my rating from 1980 to 2063.

2) Do not lose more than eight games to players rated below 1800. I lost 0 games to players rated below 1800 in the first quarter of 2026.

3) Accumulate more draws than losses. I had eight draws and eight losses in the first quarter of 2026.

4) Maintain a winning percentage of at least .700. My winning percentage through the first quarter of 2026 is .727.

In 2026, I have scored 28 wins, eight draws, and eight losses in regular rated tournament games with three first place finishes in 11 events. I lost 0 games to players rated below 1800. My net rating gain for 2026 is 83, so I need to gain 137 points to reach my goal.

Journey to the National Master Title, Part 16

I started the fourth quarter of 2025 the same way that I started the fourth quarter of 2024, playing in a four round tournament on both Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday October 4, I scored 2.5/4 in the Columbus Fall Open, losing to Alex Cretsos on board one in the last round with first place on the line. I gained four rating points to push my rating to 2005, marking the first time that I had a post-tournament rating of at least 2000 for three consecutive tournaments since November 2023. Unfortunately, I lost nine rating points in the Sunday October 5 East Market Swiss even though I scored 3/4 to tie for second-fifth; this was my ninth second place finish in 2025, tying my calendar year record for most second place finishes that I set in 2023--but of course my goal in each tournament is first place, not second place. My rating slid to 1996, ending my brief run of having a rating over 2000. Stanley Qiu (1742) knocked out the top two seeds, beating me in the second round and then taking down top-seeded Siddarth Kunapuli (2062) in the last round to finish clear first with 4/4. This is the first time I lost to a player rated below 2000 since the last round of the Chicago Open (May 26, 2025), though it should be noted that Qiu's post-tournament rating is 1870.

I scored 3/4 in the October 19, 2025 East Market Swiss, tying for third-fifth and gaining 11 rating points to lift my rating above 2000 (2007). In the second round, I avenged my loss to Stanley Qiu. Here is the position after Qiu played 19...Na6:

I replied 20. Nxg7!, and if Qiu had taken my N then I had a forced mate: 20...Kxg7?? 21. Bh6+! Kxh6 22. Qxf6+ Kh5 23. g4+ Kxg4 24. f3+ Kh5 (...Kh3 25. Qh6#) 25. Ng3#. Instead, Qiu took my B, and after the dust cleared I was up an Exchange and a Pawn with a winning attack. After losing more material and facing an imminent mate, Qiu resigned on move 39. 

My only loss was to Jack Erskine-Pereira, who scored 3.5/4 to tie for first-second. This was his first U.S. Chess rated event, but he has a 1967 FIDE rating, and he earned a 2073 provisional U.S. rating after this tournament. U.S. ratings are typically about 100 points higher than FIDE ratings. I beat my long-time friend and rival John Miller (1900) in the last round.

I started 2/2 in the October 25, 2025 Cincinnati Tornado before losing my last two games to finish out of the money. That is an uncharacteristically poor result for me in an event where I usually score well, and it is frustrating to fall below 2000 again (1994) one tournament after cracking the 2000 barrier. 

Just prior to my 54th birthday on November 3, 2025, I had a birthday weekend full of chess. I scored 1.5/3 in the Columbus G/60 Swiss on November 1, 2025, gaining seven rating points to improve my rating to 2001. In the first round, I defeated the top seeded player, Ashwin Kumar (2103), who is the current Cincinnati City Champion--the youngest ever at age 11--and Cincinnati Chess Club Champion. In the third round, I spurned two early draw offers from Alan Casden, obtained a lost position, and then created a drawing fortress:

Here, I had just played 49...h5. Casden spent 21 moves trying to break through before conceding the draw. Stockfish 17 says that White has a decisive advantage, but if you play the position out Stockfish 17 does not make any progress. The key points are (1) White's K is cut off, (2) Black cannot be forced to take on c7, and (3) White cannot force Black to abandon defense of the g6 pawn because whenever the Q attacks that pawn Black can always play ...Kh7 or ...Kg7. If necessary, Black can mark time by shuffling the R from f7 to f5. According to Stockfish 17, in an earlier position before playing g5 White could have won by constructing a position with his K on h4 and his Q on e5 while Black's K was on g7 and his R was on f6; there, g5 wins because if Black plays ...hxg5 then Kxg5 wins the pinned R. 

Unfortunately, I squandered my small rating gain just one day later, losing 29 rating points to drop my rating to 1972 after scoring just 2/4 in the November 2, 2025 East Market Swiss; my birthday weekend of chess ended on a sour note.

On November 9, 2025, I went to Columbus to play in the G/30 Quads at Donatos, but only one other player showed up, and we played a two game match. I defeated Spand Mehta 2-0, playing White in the first game and Black in the second game. I gained 22 rating points to increase my rating to 1994.

I scored 3/5 in the U2100 section of the November 15-16, 2025 Kings Island Open, losing 24 rating points to drop my rating to 1970. I had a winning position on move 19 of my first round game, but I played a series of inaccurate moves followed by a blunder to transform what should have been a smooth victory into a very frustrating defeat. I did not lose another game the rest of the way, but draws to lower rated opponents in rounds two and three prevented me from gaining rating points overall. After round three, I played in the Kings Island Open Saturday Night Blitz, tying for fourth-sixth out of 46 players with a score of 6/8. I did not gain any blitz rating points, but I won the U2000 prize. 

On November 23, 2025, my daughter Rachel and I played in Robert Chenault's Cincinnati Sunday Chess Tournament. The event consisted of four sections of six or eight players each. I scored 2/3 in the top section, gaining seven rating points to lift my rating to 1977 while finishing second-fifth out of eight. Rachel scored 0/3 in the fourth section. We had a great time in our first appearance at this event, and Rachel even played some casual, unrated chess in between rounds. The Carnegie Center is a nice, historic venue, and I look forward to playing there again in the January 17-18, 2026 Queen City Open. Here are three pictures from the Sunday Chess Tournament:

I scored 3/4 in the December 7, 2025 East Market Swiss, tying for second-fourth and gaining 14 rating points to lift my rating to 1991. I was the only player who started 3/3, but in the last round I lost to NM Deshawn Kelley, the top seeded player who was held to a draw in the second round. 

On December 20, 2025, I played in a tournament held very close to where I grew up, as the Kleptz YMCA in Englewood hosted a four round G/25+5 tournament directed by Rob Dennis of the Dayton Chess Society (the successor to the Dayton Chess Club). I scored 4/4 to take clear first, gaining five rating points to increase my rating to 1996. This was the first time that I scored 4/4 in a regular or dual rated tournament since the October 15, 2022 Cincinnati Tornado. The next day, I started 3/3 in the East Market Swiss--just like I did on December 7--before losing in the last round, this time to Joseph Kleban, an Expert who I beat in the third round on December 7. I gained one rating point to improve my rating to 1997.

On December 27, 2025, my daughter Rachel and I played in the Cincinnati Tornado. We did not have much sleep the previous night after a long travel day, and the results of that fatigue were evident in the way that we played. I scrapped my way to 2/3 in the first three rounds to put myself in position to finally get my rating back over 2000, but then I blundered a pawn early in the fourth round and was not able to save the game. I lost 17 rating points to drop my rating to 1980. Rachel received a first round bye and then lost an extra rated game. She lost her next three games as well. Despite neither of us being in peak form, we enjoyed our last chess day of 2025. Here is a picture of us before the first round:

In 2025, I set career highs with 47 regular rated events played, 187 regular rated games played, and 111 regular rated games won, breaking my previous personal records of 41, 167 and 98 respectively, all of which I set in 2024. Two highlights were finishing clear first in the U2100 section of the Indianapolis Open (4.5/5, gaining 38 rating points), and finishing clear first in the Ohio Senior Open (4.5/5, gaining 15 rating points).

In 2025, I had eight first place finishes, I set a career-high with 11 second place finishes (breaking my personal record of nine set in 2023), and I tied my personal best with 19 combined first place/second place finishes; in 2024, I also had 19 combined first place/second place finishes, but I reached that number with a career-high 13 first place finishes (breaking my record of 12 set in 2019) along with six second place finishes.

I lost 33 rating points in 2025 after gaining 45 rating points in 2024, but if I had not crashed and burned in the 2025 Chicago Open--dropping 52 points by scoring just 2.5/7 in the U2100 section--I would have gained 19 points for the year. This is another example of how in chess--as in life--"everything turns on a trifle"--with one bad move sometimes setting off a chain reaction resulting in loss of a game, followed by loss of another game, and a tournament going down the drain. 

James Altucher earned the National Master title as a young man. As a man who is a few years older than I am, he is attempting to cross the 2200 rating barrier again. He writes about his journey in New in Chess magazine, and in a recent installment he stated--in a combination of resignation and relief--that he is transitioning from being an "adult improver" at chess to an "adult enjoyer." He is focusing more on enjoying chess as opposed to trying to improve his results. 

Perhaps Altucher's shift is a rational and mature reaction to the realities of trying to gain rating points as a 50-plus year old facing talented kids with seemingly unlimited energy, and perhaps this shift is easier to make for someone who has been a National Master before, but I refuse to make that shift and I don't know if I will ever willingly make that shift. I enjoy chess, but I enjoy chess most when I win. Kobe Bryant once said that he could never have a mindset that it is good enough to just show up and do your best. I share his perspective that the point of competition is to win. 

Winning is accomplished by setting goals and then achieving them. Goals should be realistic--and people may disagree about what is realistic--but goals are important. I have been within 10 points of 2200, I still win and draw games versus National Masters, and I believe that a reasonably healthy 50-plus year old with the right plan and the right mentality can surpass 2200; it is frustrating that my rating now is lower than it was when I began writing Journey to the National Master Title, but I am not giving up, and I have the same perspective now that I expressed on January 12, 2023: 

The title of this series of articles is not meant to be presumptuous; although I am confident that I will obtain the National Master title, I understand that it is not 100% certain that I will obtain the National Master title, and that is the reason that "journey" is included in the title: whether or not I make it to the desired destination, I intend to chronicle my experiences during the journey. 

In Journey to the National Master Title, Part 12, I listed four chess goals for 2025. Here are those goals, with notes about how I performed:

1) Gain 50 rating points per quarter. I lost 18 rating points in the first quarter of 2025, decreasing my rating from 2013 to 1995; I lost 59 rating points in the second quarter of 2025, decreasing my rating from 1995 to 1936; I gained 66 rating points in the third quarter of 2025, improving my rating from 1936 to 2002; I lost 22 rating points in the fourth quarter, decreasing my rating from 2002 to 1980. Overall, I lost 33 rating points in 2025.

2) Do not lose more than six games to players rated below 1800. I lost five games to players rated below 1800 in the first quarter of 2025; I lost four games to players rated below 1800 in the second quarter of 2025; I lost zero games to players rated below 1800 in the third quarter of 2025; I lost one game to players rated below 1800 in the fourth quarter of 2025. Overall, I lost 10 games to players rated below 1800.

3) Accumulate more draws than losses. I had nine draws and 14 losses in the first quarter of 2025; I had nine draws and 15 losses in the second quarter of 2025; I had five draws and six losses in the third quarter of 2025; I had four draws and 14 losses in the fourth quarter of 2025. Overall, I had 27 draws and 49 losses.

4) Maintain a winning percentage of at least .750, to break my personal record of .740 set in 2014. My winning percentage was .666, the 10th best of my 39 year chess career.

Here are my chess goals for 2026:

1) Gain 25 rating points per quarter. My previous goal of gaining 50 rating points per quarter may have been too high, and this resulted in me "chasing" points after losses. As much as I would love to reach 2200 in 2026, it is more realistic to shoot for 2100, and then target 2200 in 2027. I used to tell my students to set a short term goal to reach the next 100 point level, so I am going to follow my own advice!  

2) Do not lose more than eight games to players rated below 1800. I had 11 such losses in 2024 and 10 such losses in 2025, so this is an attainable goal.

3) Accumulate more draws than losses. My draw/loss ratio was 33/36 in 2024 and 27/49 in 2025, so last year was a major step backward in this regard, but my 2024 performance demonstrated that this is an attainable goal.

4) Maintain a winning percentage of at least .700. In the past four years, my winning percentage has fluctuated between .666 and .686. I have reached a .700 winning percentage in a calendar year twice, so this is an ambitious but attainable goal. 

In 2025, I scored 111 wins, 27 draws, and 49 losses in regular rated tournament games with eight first place finishes in 47 events. I lost 10 games to players rated below 1800. My net rating gain for 2025 is -33, so I need to gain 220 points to reach my goal.