Journey to the National Master Title, Part 18

I scored 2/3 in the Columbus Easter G/60 Swiss, gaining nine rating points to lift my rating to 2072, my highest rating since I had a 2080 rating in October 2022. I drew with top seeded NM Charles Diebert, but fell a half point short of first place finishers Alex Cretsos and Khalil Warfield, ending my streak of winning a prize in five straight tournaments.

I went into the Cincinnati Open feeling very confident after gaining 92 rating points so far this year, but I had a disastrous result in the FIDE Expert section, scoring just one win, one draw, and three losses. I lost 47 rating points to drop my rating to 2025. A statistician might call this "regression to the mean," but it can also be considered part of the deal for anyone who participates in a competitive sport; there are many very good chess players--including a lot of improving youngsters--so all it takes to have a bad result is being slightly off form. As the great Tex Winter told Kobe Bryant, "Everything turns on a trifle." Change a few moves from this tournament, and I could have had a much better result; of course, the same is true in reverse for the tournaments where I gained so many rating points recently. 

I bounced back by scoring 3/3 in the Dayton Chess Club's April 18, 2026 G/30 "A" Swiss, finishing clear first while gaining 11 rating points to lift my rating to 2036. Then I scored 3.5/4 in the April 19, 2026 East Market Swiss, tying for first-second while gaining 12 rating points to increase my rating to 2048. I captured first place in back to back tournaments on the same weekend for the first time since the weekend of April 6, 2024, when I tied for first in both the Columbus Plus Score tournament and the East Market Swiss.

I had a setback in the April 26, 2026 Cincinnati Tornado, scoring 2/4 and losing 16 rating points to drop my rating to 2032. I scored 2.5/4 in the May 2, 2026 Columbus Spring G/45 Open, losing six rating points to decrease my rating to 2026.

I scored 3.5/4 in the May 9, 2026 Dayton Chess Club G/30 Swiss, finishing first-fourth but losing two rating points to drop my rating to 2024. I completed a fun chess weekend by scoring 3/4 in the May 10, 2026 East Market Swiss, finishing second-fifth but losing one rating point to drop my rating to 2023.

I scored 4/7 in the U2100 section of the Chicago Open during Memorial Day Weekend, losing 24 rating points to drop my rating to 1999, the first time my rating has been below 2000 since February 2026. In recent years, my rating has dropped below 2000 soon after going above 2000, so perhaps a three month streak of maintaining a 2000-plus rating is a good sign, but in my absolute peak years I maintained a 2000-plus rating for 90 straight rating supplements (December 2009-May 2017), and that is the level of consistency that I need to regain in order to achieve my goal of obtaining the National Master title. I lost my first two games, won three in a row before losing in round six, and then I finished on a nice note by winning in round seven. It is frustrating that in the first two rounds I not only eliminated myself from prize contention but I lost so many rating points that even a strong finish could not fix all of the damage.

After the Chicago Open's fifth round, I scored 5/10 in the Chicago Open Blitz, including 0/4 versus players rated above 2200 and 5/6 versus players rated below 2000. There were 70 players in the Open section and 79 players in the U1900 section. 

I scored 2.5/4 in the May 30, 2026 Cincinnati Tornado, losing 10 rating points to drop my rating to 1989. 

I have had some excellent performances in the Cleveland Open--including finishing clear 1st in the U2000 section in 2009--but this year I lost to an 1834 rated player in the first round and never found my footing, scoring 2.5/5 in the U2100 section and losing 27 rating points to drop my rating to 1962. 

After round three, I played in the Cleveland Open Saturday Night Blitz, scoring 6/8 to finish clear first under 2100. I enjoy playing in rated blitz tournaments, and in Journey to the National Master Title, Part 6, I recounted my performance in the 2023 Cleveland Open Saturday Night Blitz (I did not play in the Cleveland Open Saturday Night Blitz in 2024 or 2025):

After the first three rounds of the Cleveland Open, I played in the Cleveland Open Saturday Night Blitz, scoring 5/8; I beat number one seed Wilson Spaqi (rated 2340) 2-0 in our mini match, and the only mini match that I lost was to National Master Jesse Ren, who won the event with an 8/8 score. I finished out of the money, but I added 16 points to my USCF blitz rating. Although blitz chess and regular rated chess are two different types of events--the former is like running a sprint, while the latter is like running a marathon--my ability to sandwich two wins against a strong National Master around tournament losses to players who each have ratings more than 200 points lower than my rating epitomizes the contrasting joys and frustrations of being a chess player: I know what it looks and feels like when my talent and preparation mesh, and I know what it looks and feels like when my talent and preparation do not produce the results that I expect. 

That paragraph summarizes how I feel about this Cleveland Open as well; chess is indeed a journey of "contrasting joys and frustrations."

I had a special Father's Day as my daughter Rachel and I played in the Cincinnati Sunday Chess G/60 event. I scored 1/3, losing 14 rating points to drop my rating to 1948. Rachel scored 2/3 (a one point bye, a second round loss, and a forfeit win in the last round). Rachel played an unrated G/60 game during the first round, and fought hard before losing against a much higher rated player. Despite the rating losses, we both had a great time. 

Rachel and I had fun on Father's Day at the Cincinnati Sunday Chess G/60 tournament 

Rachel and I played in the June 27, 2026 Cincinnati Tornado. I won my first round game in just 20 moves with Black, which enabled me to move up from board three in the Open section to board one in round two. The board one game each round is broadcast at lichess.com. I was better or winning for most of my second round game before I blundered and ended up down a R with no compensation. I won my third round game with Black, giving me the opportunity to notch a modest overall rating gain with a fourth round win, but again I blundered away a winning position with White to finish 2/4, losing 16 rating points to drop my rating to 1932. 

Here is my fourth round game prior to my 28th move:

White has an advantage of more than +6 according to Stockfish 18, which means that White is up the equivalent of more than a R even though the actual material advantage is one pawn. Black's only chance is to activate his R and B before White coordinates his R and N. I should have played 28. Rb3, which protects b2 while attacking b7. If Black checks on d2 then White's K goes to h3. During the game, I had a superficial concern that my K could get trapped or even checkmated on h3, but if Black tried to maneuver his R to h1 then White's K can escape via g2 if necessary. Unfortunately, I played 28. Na4, which does not spoil the win but which gives away a significant portion of White's advantage. My idea was to open up my R along the third rank while also defending b2 and attacking c5, but after 28...Rd2+ I erred by moving my K to g1 instead of h3. After my opponent played 29...Re2, I noticed that my intended move 30. Nxc5 loses to ...Be3+ followed by ...Bxc5. At this point, I should have slowed down and reevaluated the entire position to determine the correct plan. Instead, I played 30. Nb6, and Black could now equalize by taking my e pawn, but he blundered with 30...Rxb2??:

 

Now, the strongest move is 31. Nd7, with a double attack against c5 and e5. I played 31. Rd3, which is not as good but should still be sufficient to win. Black replied 31...Rd2. I had expected 31...Ra2, after which I planned to invade with my R and N to win pawns and help my K-side pawns advance. I should have realized that Black would attempt to thwart this plan instead of going after my a pawn. The only way to win after 31...Rd2 is to play 32. Rd7, forcing Black to trade Rs on my terms by activating my N to d7. Instead, I impatiently took on d2, activating Black's B on d2 and losing my a pawn by force. I know that a B is often stronger than a N in positions with pawns on both sides of the board because a B is a long range piece while a N is short range piece, so it is baffling and frustrating that I made such a rash decision. I could have still held a draw by moving my K toward the Q-side, but instead after Black took on a5 I took on e5, which misplaced my N and lost time. Black put his B on c3, attacking my N and controlling the a1 promotion square. I erred by moving my N to d3, after which neither my K nor my N can stop Black's a pawn. I could have offered more resistance by playing Nd7-b6 instead of Nd3, though Black is still clearly better because of his strong B and outside passed pawn.

Rachel scored 0/4; three of her four opponents outrated her by at least 300 rating points. She is having fun while learning and improving, even if her rating does not yet fully reflect what she has learned. Rachel played three casual games in between rounds, scoring one win, one loss, and one draw. Rachel has mentioned to me that she thinks about chess differently than I do, and I understand to mean not only that she evaluates moves differently than I do but also that she views chess as a fun game more than a challenge to be conquered.

When I started playing tournament chess I focused much more on the competitive aspect than the social aspect--and I am still more competitive than social, but going to tournaments with Rachel has brought out a different side of me and helped transform me into a more well-rounded person. 

Rachel and I took a selfie before going to the June 2026 Cincinnati Tornado. Yes, I wore the Chess Dad shirt for the second tournament in a row.

It is deeply ingrained in me to have ambitious chess goals and to believe that I am capable of achieving my goals, but I also see a bigger picture that chess provides value beyond gaining rating points. I knew this value long ago and spoke about it to others--including my students when I was a chess coach--but I am learning how to internalize it for myself and not let results alone determine how I feel about a chess tournament. I am not playing very well right now, but going to chess tournaments this summer with Rachel is a wonderful thing above and beyond how many games we win or lose. 

I have played 865 regular rated over the board games since January 1, 2020, and for most of that period my rating has hovered between the mid-1900s and the mid-2000s. Hall of Fame football coach Bill Parcells famously said, "You are what your record says you are." My record says that in recent years I am a high Class A/low Expert player. To reach my goal of attaining the National Master title, I have to break out of my current rating range. I have cut down my losses to players rated below 1800 and I have improved by draw/loss ratio, but that has not been enough, in part because many of my draws are with underrated kids so even though the draws do not hurt much in the tournament standings they are costing me rating points. I am also losing too many games to players rated between 1800-2000. My technique in converting winning positions has been lazy and sloppy, as illustrated by the above example.

I played very well in the first quarter of this year, but a disastrous second quarter not only wiped out an 83 rating point gain but put me in a deficit overall for the year. One major positive development this year is that my peak rating (so far!) of 2072 is my highest peak rating since 2022 and my 15th highest peak rating in a calendar year since 1987. 

The third quarter of 2026 will be about refocusing, regrouping, and getting my rating back over 2000. This is a challenging era for so-called "adult improvers" because the average USCF rating is much lower than it used to be and because the rating pool is increasingly populated with strong but underrated young players, but I believe that I am capable of playing well enough to overcome those challenges.

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; I lost 131 rating points in the second quarter of 2026, dropping my rating from 2063 to 1932. 

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; I lost 0 games to players rated below 1800 in the second quarter of 2026.

3) Accumulate more draws than losses. I had eight draws and eight losses in the first quarter of 2026; I had 12 draws and 15 losses in the second quarter of 2026.

4) Maintain a winning percentage of at least .700. My winning percentage through the first two quarters of 2026 is .663.

In 2026, I have scored 55 wins, 20 draws, and 23 losses in regular rated tournament games with six first place finishes in 24 events. I lost 0 games to players rated below 1800. My net rating gain for 2026 is -48, so I need to gain 252 points to reach my goal. 

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.

Journey to the National Master Title, Part 14

In five March 2025 tournaments, I finished first twice and second three times while scoring 15/19 with just two losses; in April I picked up where I left off by scoring 3/4 in the April 6, 2025 East Market Swiss, finishing second-sixth and gaining 18 rating points to push my rating to 2015. That is my highest rating since November 12, 2023, when my rating was 2032. In the third round, I defeated the top seeded player, National Master Deshawn Kelley, but then I lost in the fourth round to Siddarth Kunapuli; that defeat snapped a 13 game streak during which I had no losses, which is my longest such streak since I had a 13 game streak in February-March 2023. During my most recent streak, I had 10 wins and three draws, while during my 2023 streak I had nine wins and four draws. I believe that when I develop the necessary consistency to put together a streak of longer than 20 games without losses I will be well on my way to surpassing the 2200 rating barrier.

Last year, in Journey to the National Master Title, Part 10, I discussed my Cincinnati Open history: "I first played in the Cincinnati Open in 1994, and it has become one of my favorite (nearly) annual events. There have been a few years that it has not been held, and a few other years that I was not able to participate for various reasons, but this year marked my 14th appearance--and the sixth time that I won a prize (including a tie for first place in the U2100 section in 2013)." This year, I took a third round bye, which meant that I played two games on Saturday followed by two games on Sunday. I played kids in all four games, starting with a first round win and then alternating wins and losses the rest of the way to finish 2/4 (2.5/5 including the bye), losing 14 rating points to drop my rating to 2001. In the last round, I lost to Elizabeth Xia, the highest rated nine year old girl in the country; in this tournament, she gained 81 rating points to establish a new career-high rating of 1911. I would have tied for fourth if I had won my last round game, and that would have matched my final ranking in 2023 and 2024.

I started the April 19, 2025 Columbus G/60 tournament poorly, losing in the first round to Colin Park (1708 published rating, 1788 live rating, 1839 post-tournament rating), who then won his second round game as well before losing in the last round to top seeded Evan Fan (2047). I bounced back to win my next two games to tie for second-third, but I still lost nine rating points to drop my rating to 1992.

I scored 2.5/4 in the April 26, 2025 Cincinnati Tornado. I lost my last round game on board one to Alex Cretsos, who won the tournament with 4/4. Cretsos gained 50 rating points establish a new career-high rating (2020), and I lost seven rating points to drop my rating to 1985. The next day, I scored 3/4 in the April 27, 2025 East Market Swiss, tying for second-third. I started 3/3 before losing to top seeded Deshawn Kelley in the last round. I gained 14 rating points to lift my rating to 1999.

My performance in the May 3, 2025 Columbus Plus Score tournament was a very disappointing setback. I made an unsound sacrifice versus Peyton Legg (1765) and lost in the first round, bounced back to win two games, and then blundered in the last round versus Daniel Chancey (1903). I lost 26 rating points to drop my rating to 1973. My slump continued the next weekend when I scored 2/4 in the May 11, 2025 East Market Swiss, losing 15 rating points to drop my rating to 1958. I scored 3/3 in the Dayton Chess Club's May 17, 2025 G/45 "A" Quad, gaining 12 rating points to improve my rating to 1970.

Unfortunately, I lost all 12 rating points--and much more--when I scored 2.5/7 in the U2100 section of the Chicago Open during Memorial Day Weekend. In the U2100 section of the 2024 Chicago Open, I scored 4/7 and only lost once, but this year I lost four games, including two to players rated below 1800, and my rating plummeted 52 points to 1918--my lowest rating since I hit my rating floor (1900) on March 31, 2021. My last round opponent had a published rating of just 1524, but before he beat me he defeated two players rated over 1900; he gained 193 rating points in this tournament, and he is now rated 1717. My tournament consisted of a series of tragicomedies (to borrow Mark Dvoretsky's word to describe a game gone awry), but perhaps the most tragic and comic was my lone draw, my third round game during which I had a losing position before my opponent hung a piece. I seemed to be cruising to victory when he played ...Ne6, after which he slapped his forehead as if he just realized he had blundered another piece:

Any sensible move wins easily for me here--but I let my guard down, and did not ask myself the most important question about any chess position: "What does my opponent want?" Here, he wants me to create a potential stalemate if I take his N with my Q. A few seconds after I gave him what he wants by playing Qxe6, he played ...Rxg3+. I have to take the R to avoid a perpetual check, after which my opponent forces me to take his Q and thus stalemate his K. I delayed the inevitable by playing Kh2, after which my opponent played ...Rh3+ and offered a draw--twice. By this point, I felt embarrassed at my carelessness and frustrated with his theatrics--the head slap, followed by multiple draw offers when it is obvious that the draw is unavoidable. I don't blame my opponent for playing on in a completely lost position; there is no rule against playing on until checkmate--but the head slap and the multiple draw offers were a bit much for me to take. I played the game out until stalemate appeared on the board. Normally, after every game I wish my opponent good luck in his next game, but after this game I said, "You had a resignable game but you are resourceful. The head slap was a nice touch. Congratulations on the best game of your career." I am not proud of making that semi-sarcastic dig, but I am not ashamed either; drawing me with Black probably is the best result he has had in his chess career. I am still not sure who is the bigger clown: my opponent for his "Three Stooges" theatrics after he played ...Ne6, or me for being foolish enough to let my guard down at any time, let alone in a game in the biggest tournament that I play in each year.

After the Chicago Open's fifth round, I scored 3.5/10 in the Chicago Open Blitz, including 1/6 versus players rated above 2100 and 2.5/4 versus players rated below 2100. There were 55 players in the Open section and 66 players in the U1900 section. 

I enjoy the "big time" environment of the Chicago Open, and I feel blessed to have played in the event 15 times, even though this one did not turn out the way that I had hoped or planned. I remain undaunted; after I hit my rating floor on March 31, 2021, I pushed my rating back over 2000 four tournaments later, on April 17, 2021. As I have always done, I lick my wounds, study my games, and prepare for the next tournament. Bill Belichick once very famously said, "We're on to Cincinnati," and that was literally the case for me--my next tournament was the May 31, 2025 Cincinnati Tornado. I started out with 2.5/3 and could have tied for first place with a last round win, but I lost to Evan Fan (2063) to finish out of the money and lose two rating points to drop to 1916.

I scored 3/5 in the U2100 section of the Cleveland Open to gain five rating points to improve to 1921. The good news about that result is that I did not lose a game, scoring one win and four draws; the bad news about that result is that I stood better in three of the four games that I drew, so if I had played more precisely I would have won more games and gained more rating points. The highlight of this tournament is that my daughter Rachel played in the Cleveland Open for the first time and she played in a two day weekend Swiss event for the second time. Rachel received a first round bye and then lost an "extra" rated game played during the first round. She fought hard throughout the tournament, facing higher rated players each round, and even though she lost all of her games she enjoyed the experience. It was a great Father's Day weekend for us!

Rachel and me before the first round of the 2025 Cleveland Open

Rachel and I played in the June 28, 2025 Cincinnati Tornado, the fifth time that we have played in this monthly event run by Robert Chenault. I scored 3/4 to finish third-fifth in the Open section, gaining 15 points to push my rating to 1936, and splitting the U2001 prize with one other player. Top seeded Aryan Balyan (2258 post-tournament rating) claimed clear first with 4/4, beating me in round three before defeating FM Hans Multhopp in the fourth round. Rachel scored 0/3 with a one point bye in the fourth round, but she had a great time, and she played an extra unrated game for fun during the fourth round.

Rachel and me prior to arriving at the June 28, 2025 Cincinnati Tornado

I started the second quarter of 2025 well, pushing my rating to 2015 after the April 6, 2025 East Market Swiss, but I lost 83 rating points in May before bouncing back to regain 20 rating points in June. 

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 have performed in the first two quarters of 2025:

1) Gain 50 rating points per quarter. I lost 16 rating points in the first quarter of 2025, decreasing my rating from 2013 to 1997; I lost 61 rating points in the second quarter of 2025, decreasing my rating from 1997 to 1936. 

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.

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.

4) Maintain a winning percentage of at least .750, to break my personal record of .740 set in 2014. My winning percentage through the first two quarters of 2025 is .648. 

In 2025, I have scored 61 wins, 18 draws, and 29 losses in regular rated tournament games with three first place finishes in 27 events. I lost nine games to players rated below 1800. My net rating gain for 2025 is -77, so I need to gain 264 points to reach my goal. 

Journey to the National Master Title, Part 13

I scored 2/4 in the January 4, 2025 Columbus Plus Score tournament. I lost 16 rating points to drop to 1997. This is the eighth time I have played in a Columbus Plus Score event, and the third time that I did not achieve a plus score (but I also have never had a minus score). I squandered an easily winning endgame in the first round due to hasty, inaccurate play. In the diagram below, I am about to play my 42nd move, and Stockfish 17 says that I have a nearly +7 advantage.

There are many paths to victory, but perhaps the simplest is what I initially planned: pushing my e pawn, and if Black checks me then I can run my K up the board, using my R and P for shelter if necessary. However, I became concerned that Black's g pawn could become dangerous if Black uses his K and R to take my f pawn and g pawn while my e pawn runs. So, I decided to be "safe" and take the g pawn--but now my K has no shelter, so Black can either check me forever, or else be just in time to pick off all of my pawns. A couple moves later, my opponent blundered and gave me a second chance to push my e pawn under favorable circumstances, but after I missed that winning opportunity the game fizzled to a draw; turning a win into a draw represents a 12 point rating swing, and in order to regain those points at my current rating level I would have to win one game against a 2000 rated player or two games against an 1800 rated player. Chess can be brutal!

How can a strong and experienced player make such a mistake? Ignoring for a moment the reality that even world champions blunder because blunders are an inherent part of chess, this specific mistake reflects a larger weakness that I need to correct: I too often rely on a combination of my general chess knowledge and my intuitive feel for chess positions as opposed to doing move by move calculation. My general chess knowledge states that a player who is up two pawns wins trivially the vast majority of the time, and my intuitive feel for chess positions led me to believe that capturing the g pawn eliminated Black's last practical drawing chance--but move by move calculation would have enabled me to see that White is winning after 42. e4 Ra2+ 43. Ke3 Ra3+ 44. Kd4 Ra4+ 45. Ke5 g4 46. Rf4. Black's g pawn will fall, and my K and R will escort the e pawn down the board, as Black's K is cut off and I can evade R checks.

Although the tournament was not a success, I ended the event on a positive note; in the fourth round, I beat Mehmet Yilanli, the highest rated seven year old in the United States (1880), avenging my loss to Yilanli in the fourth round of the October 5, 2024 Columbus Plus Score tournament. 

I scored 3/4 in the January 5, 2025 East Market Swiss, gaining nine rating points to bounce back over 2000 (2006), and tying for second-fourth. I won my first three games before losing to top seeded Broderick Bauml in a last round battle for first place. 

As soon as I popped my head above 2000, I crashed below again by losing 19 rating points in the Columbus Winter Open to slip to 1987. I reached a winning position in the first round versus Maxwell Chung (1783) only to dissipate my advantage with inaccurate moves before doing an unsound piece sacrifice; instead of a quick win, I suffered my first loss of 2025 versus a player rated below 1800. I won my next two games but then lost to Aryan Balyan (2162) in a last round battle for second place.

I scored 2/3 in the Dayton Chess Club's January 18, 2025 G/45 Swiss, losing 10 rating points to drop to 1977. Although I did not perform as well as I expect to perform in this event, in the first round I delivered a pretty checkmate versus two-time Dayton Chess Club Champion David Guehl. I do not recall ever seeing this exact pattern before; it is interesting that my Q could be replaced by a B or even by a P and it would still be a checkmate because my opponent's K is hemmed in by his own Ps:

I scored 2/4 in the January 19, 2025 East Market Swiss, losing 19 rating points to fall to 1958. In the last round, with second place up for grabs, I lost to Keya Jha (1934), the second highest rated 10 year old girl in the country; she already ranks on the 95th percentile of all players nationwide! She finished clear second behind John Miller (2049), the top ranked player who beat me in the third round en route to a 4-0 performance. 

In Journey to the National Master Title, Part 9, I described the history of the Cardinal Open, and I explained why it is one of my favorite tournaments. I tied for second-third among players rated under 2200 in the strong Open section of the 1999 Cardinal Open, highlighted by beating 13 year old National Master A.J. Steigman in the last round. Last year, I scored just 2.5/5 in the U2100 section. This year, I started with 2/3 on Saturday, putting myself in position to win a prize and gain rating points with two wins on Sunday. After the third round, I played in the Cardinal Open Saturday Night Blitz, scoring 5/8 to tie for first-second U2000 in the Open section. I scored 1.5/2 versus players who hold the NM title, including an exciting last round win versus Savio Bennihyn Joseph Benher, who has a 2231 regular rating. In the main event on Sunday, I beat my friend Robert Chenault (1906) in the fourth round, but I lost to Srihari Kandadai in a last round game on board two; as a result, Kandadai tied for first place with 4.5/5, but if I had won that game then I would have tied for second. Kandadai gained 139 rating points, vaulting from 1803 to 1942. I lost one rating point, dropping my rating to 1957.

I scored 3/4 in the February 1, 2025 Columbus Plus Score tournament, gaining 14 rating points to improve my rating to 1971. This is sixth time I achieved a plus score in nine appearances at this event. In the last round, I defeated Magnolia Zhu (1747), the fifth highest rated eight year old girl in the country. I was the eighth highest rated player in a strong field that included National Masters Will Sedlar (top scorer with 3.5/4), Jonathan Hilton, and Brett Passen, but I tied for second-fourth with Hilton and Expert Nicholas Bize. Sedlar defeated me in round two.

The February 15, 2025 Columbus G/60 tournament had an "Adults Only" (age 18 and up) format. Many adults prefer to not face young players, particularly young players who are not only strong but also underrated. I don't duck anybody at any time, but I wish that the U.S. Chess Federation would follow FIDE's example by adjusting the ratings of players rated under 2000 to reflect the obvious deflation that has happened in recent years. In the first round, I faced Pranav Jayaganesh, a young player who is still a "junior" according to the U.S. Chess Federation but who qualified for this "Adults Only" event because he is older than 18 and graduated from high school. I obtained an opening advantage plus a huge lead on the clock, but I did not cash in and my opponent offered me a draw twice in the endgame. Both times that he offered a draw the position was equal, but I convinced myself that I could induce him to make a time pressure error. Eventually, I sacrificed a pawn to create complications. With best play, he would have been forced to sacrifice back to maintain equality--but, instead, I blundered in his time pressure:

Here, 66.Kb5 maintains a narrow path to equality: 66...Bxh4 67.c4 Bf2 68.Kxa5 h4 69.Kb5 Kg5 70.c5 Bxc5 71.Kxc5 Kf4 72.a5 Kf3 73.a6 h3 74.a7 h2 75.a8Q h1Q 76.Qa6 Kf4 77.Qxf6 Qxf1 78.Qh6+ Kxe4 79.f6 Qf2+ 80.Kd6 g3 81.Qh7+ Ke3 82.Qa7+ Kf3 83.Qxf2+ gxf2 84.f7 f1Q 85.f8Q+ Ke2 86.Qxf1+ Kxf1 87.Kxe5=. Unfortunately, I played 66.Kd5?? and lost after 66...Bxh4 67.c4 Bf2 68.c5 h4 69.c6 Bb6 70.Kd6 Kg5 71.c7 Bxc7+ 72.Kxc7 h3 73.Kd6 Kh4 74.Ke6 g3. I played the game continuation because I missed how fast Black's pawns are after 73...Kh4. I hastily assumed that if Black's K abandons f6 then my pawn would roll through. I remember NM Jim Jordan asserting "If you can count, you can become a Master." That still seems like an exaggeration to me, but this position is a great example of how important it is to count/calculate accurately. Jayaganesh finished with 2/3, gaining 32 rating points. I won my last two games to finish with 2/3, but I lost five rating points, dropping my rating to 1966.

I tied for first-third U2000 in the February 22, 2025 Cincinnati Tornado, scoring 3/4. I lost one rating point, dropping my rating to 1965. I was the fifth seed in the 29 player Open section, and I was the only player seeded in the top five to win a prize. The next day, I completed a full chess weekend by scoring 2.5/4 in the February 23, 2025 East Market Swiss. I lost nine rating points, dropping my rating to 1956. I was the third seed out of 23 players. Only one of the top three seeded players won a prize. Shiv Srinivasan won the event with 3.5/4 after beating me and the second seeded player in rounds three and four respectively, and he gained 89 rating points to push his rating to 1865; this is the third time this year that I lost to a player rated below 1800 (and the second time that the sub-1800 player who beat me had a post-tournament rating above 1800). I missed several forced wins (and some forced draws) versus Srinivasan. Here is my last chance before I blundered and handed the win to him:

Srinivasan had just played 54.Kc4, getting out of check and renewing the mate threat on g7. I should have played 54...f6, which blocks my opponent's B while opening up f7 for my B and freeing my Q to swing over to d1. Stockfish 17 says that Black is nearly +5 here, meaning that my advantage is equivalent to being ahead by a R. Instead, I hallucinated that my opponent could get a perpetual check by sacrificing his R on f6 if I pushed the pawn, so I played 54...Qh6?? My opponent replied 55.g4, threatening both to deflect my Q with 56.g5 and to pin my Q with 56.Rh2. I can parry both threats by playing either 55...f6 or 55...Rd1--but because I did not notice the Rh2 threat I played 55...Be4?? and I thought that I had caught White's K in a mating net. I was deflated and discouraged when my opponent played 56.Rh2, a move which may look spectacular to a novice but is in fact a simple deflection tactic that I should have seen as soon as my opponent opened his second rank by pushing his g pawn. I had an advantage for a substantial portion of this game, but posterity will record the result as 1-0; there are no rating points or prizes awarded for "almost winning" or "winning for most of the game." 

Over 20 years ago, I asked Grandmaster Edmar Mednis how to consistently convert winning positions/how to avoid blundering away winning positions, and he told me to think of a chess game as equivalent to taking a five hour car trip: if you drive safely for four and a half hours but then crash into a ditch that is not a successful car trip; similarly, if you dominate your opponent for most of the game but then blunder, that is not a successful chess game. The car trip/chess game is not over until you safely reach your desired destination. I remember Mednis' story but remembering it is not enough: I must apply this wisdom when the outcome of the game hangs in the balance. It is not enough to be a good storyteller. I asked Mednis the question not to have a pithy pearl of wisdom to share, but to obtain practical advice to use during my games.

I scored 3/4 in the March 1, 2025 Columbus Plus Score tournament. This is the seventh time I achieved a plus score in 10 appearances at this event. I gained seven rating points, lifting my rating to 1963. I was the seventh seeded player, but I tied for second-sixth behind rising young Expert Siddarth Kunapuli. In the last round, I defeated National Master Brett Passen, the top seeded player. Two of the top three seeded players did not finish with a plus score, which indicates how competitive this tournament was.

I followed up my solid Columbus Plus Score result by winning the March 8, 2025 Columbus G/60 tournament with 2.5/3. I gained 14 rating points to improve my rating to 1977. The combined ages of my three opponents was significantly less than my age, and I am proud that I am showing that "Generation X" players can still compete with talented "Generation Alpha" players. On March 9, 2025, I scored 3/4 in the East Market Swiss, tying for second-fourth but losing seven rating points to drop my rating to 1970. I played ...Nxh3 in two games--the first time, I sacrificed unsoundly and lost to Stanley Qiu (1790) in the second round, but the second time my attack versus veteran Columbus player Thomas Stafa (1859) crashed through successfully.

Here is the position prior to my 29th move versus Qiu:

 

I stand clearly worse here, so I went for it with ...Nxh3+. I captured two pawns for my N, and I had ideas of lifting the Rf8 and swinging the other R to the f file, but White's Q, B, and R are putting too much pressure on my K. I lost after 30.gxh3 Qxh3 31.Qg2 Qxc3 32.Ne3 Rf4 33.Qg6 Rf6 34.Qxh5 Qd3 35.Rfd1 Rg6+ 36.Ng4 Qe4 37.Rb8+ Bf8 38.Rxf8+ Kxf8 39.Qh8+ Ke7 40.Qe8#.

Here is the position prior to my 30th move in my fourth round game versus Stafa. My pieces are swarming around Stafa's K, and after ...Nxh3 I won quickly: 31.Bxh3 Qxf2+ 32.Ng2 Nf4 33.Qf3 Rxh3+ 34.Rxh3 Qxf3.

I scored 3.5/4 in the March 16, 2025 East Market Swiss, claiming clear first while gaining 15 rating points to push my rating to 1985--but the highlight of the event was spending the day with my daughter Rachel, who drew her first round game despite not playing in any tournaments since the December 28, 2024 Cincinnati Tornado (where I also scored 3.5/4, finishing first-second). Rachel and I enjoyed Yellow Brick cheese pizza during the lunch break after the second round, and she also had a brownie batter sundae from NOLA Daq Shack.

Pre-tournament selfie with Rachel at March 16, 2025 East Market Swiss

The March 29, 2025 Cincinnati Tornado was my final tournament of the first quarter of the year. I scored 3/4 to finish clear second, gaining 12 rating points to increase my rating to 1997. In the third round, I drew Will Sedlar (2341), and thus I earned the "Master Bounty" prize paid out to a player who defeats or draws with the event's top seeded player.

I started the first quarter of 2025 horribly--losing 57 rating points in January--but I finished strongly, gaining 41 rating points in March. In five March tournaments I finished first twice and second three times while scoring 15/19 with just two losses--but both losses were to players rated below 1800, which means that a great month could have been even better. The blown winning positions described earlier in this article represent the difference between being rated over 2050 now versus being rated 1997; the rating points are there for the taking, but I have to take them by consistently converting winning positions. 

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 have performed so far this year:

1) Gain 50 rating points per quarter. I lost 16 rating points in the first quarter of 2025, decreasing my rating from 2013 to 1997. 

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.

3) Accumulate more draws than losses. I had nine draws and 14 losses in the first quarter of 2025.

4) Maintain a winning percentage of at least .750, to break my personal record of .740 set in 2014. My winning percentage in the first quarter of 2025 was .681.

In 2025, I have scored 35 wins, nine draws, and 14 losses in regular rated tournament games with two first place finishes in 15 events. I lost five games to players rated below 1800. My net rating gain for 2025 is -18, so I need to gain 205 points to reach my goal.

Journey to the National Master Title, Part 12

I started the fourth quarter of 2024 with a packed chess weekend. Unfortunately, it was packed with painful losses! I scored 2/4 in the October 5, 2024 Columbus Plus Score tournament. I lost 34 rating points to plummet to 1944. This is the seventh time I have played in a Columbus Plus Score event, and just the second time that I did not achieve a plus score. In the fourth round, I lost to Mehmet Yilanli, the third highest rated seven year old in the United States. Yilanli's published rating for October 2024 was 1696, but his live rating was already 1784 and his post-tournament rating was 1795. 

Things only got worse for me in the October 6, 2024 East Market Round Robin. Originally scheduled as a four round G/45 Swiss, the format was switched to a six round G/25 (with five second increment) round robin because only seven players participated. I lost my first three games before recovering to win my last three games to tie for third-fifth with 3/6. I lost 14 rating points, and my rating slid to 1930. 

In the midst of this disastrous chess weekend, I lost five straight rated games. I cannot remember the last time that I lost five straight rated games. Looking through the past 10 years of my chess performance records, the worst losing streaks that I found were four four-game losing streaks; the most recent one took place in the U2100 section of the 2022 Chicago Open, and the previous one happened in the March 6, 2021 Upper Valley G/45, when I went 0-4 against four players who had each earned or would soon earn the National Master title--a marked contrast to this five game losing streak that included defeats to three players rated below 1800, albeit three players who are underrated kids (one of whom entered the tournament rated 1799 and exited the tournament rated 1857).

I recovered from my "lost chess weekend" to score 3.5/4 in the Columbus G/45 on October 19, 2024, gaining 51 rating points to lift my rating back up to 1981, and tying for first-second with Louis Zhang (who drew with me in the third round).

Louis Zhang (white) versus David Friedman (black), October 19, 2024 Columbus G/45

Then, I scored 3/4 in the October 20, 2024 East Market Swiss, tying for first-third but losing eight rating points to drop to 1973. That marked my 12th first place finish in 2024, tying a personal mark set in 2019. Overall, I scored five wins and three draws during the October 19-20, 2024 weekend, gaining 43 rating points and finishing first twice in one weekend for the first time since April 6-7, 2024.

I entered the October 26, 2024 Cincinnati Tornado with a streak of 11 straight regular rated games without a loss. I won my first round game to extend that streak to 12, but then squandered a winning position in round two and lost to end my streak. I won my last two games to finish with 3/4, earning a tie for second-fourth and gaining three rating points to climb back to 1976.

I won my first two games in the November 10, 2024 East Market Swiss, but then I blundered in my third round game to turn an equal position into a lost position. In the fourth round, I lost for the first time to Keya Jha, the number one rated nine year old girl in the country. I had scored four wins and three draws in our previous games. I lost 19 rating points to drop to 1957.

The Kings Island Open has been one of my favorite tournaments since I first played in the event in 1994. This year, I scored 3/5 in the U2100 section, finishing out of the money and losing 13 rating points to fall to 1944. I won my first two games before facing Gabriel Heyer (1863) in the third round. I had scored 3.5/4 in my previous games versus Heyer, but I had White in each of those games and I had Black this time versus Heyer. He played 1. e3, and I overextended my position trying to "punish" his slightly unorthodox (but sound) opening. 

After round three, I played in the Kings Island Open Saturday Night Blitz, tying for third-eighth out of 35 players with a score of 6/8. There was not a third place prize, but I tied with four other players for the combined U2300/U2100 prize. My USCF blitz rating remained unchanged at 1800, which is my USCF blitz floor; many kids are strong players but have not played many USCF blitz games, so their blitz ratings are hundreds of points lower than their regular ratings: my only two losses were to Sharath Radhakrishnan, whose regular rating is 2248, but whose USCF blitz rating prior to this event was just 1971. He scored 6.5/8 to take clear second behind GM Jianchao Zhou, who finished first with 7.5/8.

In the fourth round versus Carter Evard (1790 after 19 games; 1862 after Kings Island), after mutual mistakes in the opening I "tilted" in this position:

Any normal move--such as 17. Rcd1--keeps the balance. Instead, I played 17. Bxh6??, foolishly and recklessly going all-in for an attack that I should have realized is unsound. My opponent took my B and then pocketed my d pawn after I played 18. Qxh6. Instead of patiently maneuvering to try to obtain an advantage from an equal position, I went for broke on move 17--and got broken! This is the kind of impulsive, unsound chess that I have to eliminate: there is no reason to give up my B for two pawns both in this specific position, and in general versus a player who I should reasonably expect to outplay without taking risks in a patient, positional game.

I scored 3/4 in the November 24, 2024 East Market Swiss, tying for second-fourth and gaining 19 rating points to climb back to 1963. This was a special tournament because my daughter Rachel played. Although she scored 0/4, she had a great time--and when she has a great time, I have a great time as well. This was Rachel's 10th regular rated tournament, and her second appearance at East Market, the site of her first regular rated tournament (March 12, 2023).

Pre-tournament selfie with Rachel at November 24, 2024 East Market Swiss

I started the December 8, 2024 East Market Swiss with 2.5/3, setting up a last round encounter for first place versus top seeded Deshawn Kelley. Kelley won, dropping me into a tie for fourth-sixth. I gained five rating points to lift my rating to 1968, exactly my rating at the start of 2024.

I scored 2/3 in the Dayton Chess Club's December 14, 2024 G/45 Swiss, tying for second-third and gaining three rating points to improve my rating to 1971. In the first round, Kiran Boyineppally (1750) held me to a draw in a wild time scramble, and then he won his next two games to take clear first.

My 2024 chess year concluded on December 28, 2024 at the Cincinnati Tornado. My daughter Rachel played, and this turned out to be one of my favorite events of the year both because we participated together and because I performed very well, scoring 3.5/4 to tie for first-second with the top seeded player (Will Sedlar, 2315) while gaining 42 rating points to lift my rating above 2000 (2013) for the first time since September 2024. This was my second largest single tournament rating gain in 2024, surpassed only by the 51 rating points that I gained in the October 19, 2024 Columbus G/45 tournament. After winning my first two games versus lower rated opponents, I drew with Gajanan Jayade (2128) in the third round and then I defeated FM Hans Multhopp in the fourth round. Sedlar knocked off the only player with a 3-0 score to join me in the winner's circle. Rachel scored 0/3 with a one point bye in round three, but she loves chess so much that she played several casual games during the third round.

Pre-tournament selfie with Rachel at December 28, 2024 Cincinnati Tornado

I entered October 2023 rated 2038 and dropped all the way to 1940 before bouncing back to 1968 by the end of December 2023. This year, I had a 2004 rating in August, and dropped all the way to 1930 before finishing December with a rating of 2013. I am not sure why I have had such dramatic rating fluctuations in the fall months of the past two years, but without those slumps I would be much closer to reaching my goal.

Regarding the challenge of trying to advance from the 1900-2000 range to 2200 in the current era, I found some interesting data confirming my impression that my current level of play is not substantially lower than my level of play during my peak rating years but rather that the rating distribution has shifted unfavorably for players in my rating range. USCF ratings distribution data from 2004 shows that the 2000 rating level was at the 96.9 percentile, the 2100 rating level was at the 98.1 percentile, and the 2200 rating level was at the 99.2 percentile; the USCF ratings distribution data from 2014 shows that the 2000 rating level was at the 97.8 percentile, the 2100 rating level was at the 98.7 percentile, and the 2200 rating level was at the 99.4 percentile. That data demonstrates that the percentage of players who are National Masters (2200 rating level) has stayed about the same (less than 1 percent) but the percentage of players who are Experts (2000 rating level) has decreased. One factor to keep in mind is that the rating pool of National Masters is artificially inflated by older players who have earned a 2200 rating floor but are likely no longer 2200 strength players. In other words, if one excludes the "floored" National Masters then it is possible that the percentage of players who are maintaining a 2200 performance level has decreased just like the percentage of players who are maintaining a 2000 performance level has decreased.

My interpretation of that data is that the small cohort of players who are talented enough and work hard enough to earn the NM title has remained roughly the same size, but overall it is more difficult to maintain an Expert level rating than it used to be. I have not found USCF ratings distribution data more recent than 2014, but based on my personal experience I suspect that the trends noted above have continued or even accelerated: objectively, I would say that my level of play now is not much worse than it was in 2014, but in 2014 I was rated over 2100 while now my rating fluctuates in the high 1900s/low 2000s.

Overall, I performed well in 2024, and I set several personal records for regular rated events, including most first place finishes (13, surpassing the 12 that I had in 2019), most events played (41, surpassing the 39 that I played in 2023), most prizes won (29, surpassing the 24 prizes I won in 2023), highest percentage of events in which I won a prize (70.7%, surpassing the 68.8% prize winning percentage that I had in 2020), most combined first/second place finishes (19, surpassing the 18 combined first/second place finishes that I had in 2023), most games played (167, surpassing the 155 games that I played in 2023), most games won (98, surpassing the 93 wins that I had in 2023), and most draws (33, surpassing the 27 draws that I had in 2012). Also, I won one game versus a National Master, pushing my career total to 81.

I had a good year, but not good enough to earn the National Master title. The biggest challenge is to cut down my losses to players rated below 1800. In the first half of the year I had four such losses, but that number ballooned to seven in the second half of the year, which prevented me from surpassing 2100. Similarly, my draw/loss ratio during the first half of the year was good, but I slipped in that regard in the second half of the year. Overall, though, I made progress, and had my best draw/loss ratio ever, which is a step in the right direction.

My five game losing streak over a two tournament span in October made the difference between a good year and an excellent year. I had winning positions in three of those games, and legitimate opportunities to do no worse than draw all five of them; if I had scored 4/5 in those games then my rating would be close to 2100 now instead of languishing in the low 2000s. The losing streak seems like an anomaly, because I won my next three games, and then the next weekend I finished first in two tournaments, gaining a combined 43 rating points.

In Journey to the National Master Title, Part 8, I listed four chess goals for 2024. Here are those goals, with notes about how I performed:

1) Gain 60 rating points per quarter. I gained three rating points in the first quarter of 2024, improving my rating from 1968 to 1971; I gained 10 rating points in the second quarter of 2024, improving my rating from 1971 to 1981; I lost three rating points in the third quarter of 2024, dropping my rating from 1981 to 1978; I gained 35 rating points in the fourth quarter of 2024, improving my rating from 1978 to 2013. Overall, I gained 45 rating points in 2024, which averages out to 11.25 rating points per quarter.

2) Do not lose any games to players rated below 1800. I lost two games to players rated below 1800 in the first quarter of 2024; I lost two games to players rated below 1800 in the second quarter of 2024; I lost three games to players rated below 1800 in the third quarter of 2024; I lost four games to players rated below 1800 in the fourth quarter of 2024. Overall, I lost 11 games to players rated below 1800.

3) Accumulate more draws than losses. I had 15 draws and eight losses in the first quarter of 2024; I had seven draws and nine losses in the second quarter of 2024; I had four draws and seven losses in the third quarter of 2024; I had seven draws and 12 losses in the fourth quarter of 2024. Overall, I had 33 draws and 36 losses.

4) Maintain a winning percentage of at least .750, to break my personal record of .740 set in 2014. My winning percentage was .686, the fifth best of my career.

Here are my chess goals for 2025:

1) Gain 50 rating points per quarter.

2) Do not lose more than six games to players rated below 1800.

3) Accumulate more draws than losses.

4) Maintain a winning percentage of at least .750, to break my personal record of .740 set in 2014.

In 2024, I scored 98 wins, 33 draws, and 36 losses in regular rated tournament games with 13 first place finishes in 41 events. I lost 11 games to players rated below 1800. My net rating gain for 2024 is 45, so I need to gain 187 points to reach my goal.