An Uber Driver's journey to the National Master title

Getting Back into the game

One of my favorite movies is "The Natural", starring Robert Redford. An unknown middle-aged baseball player named Roy Hobbs, with a mysterious past, appears out of nowhere to take a last place 1930's baseball team from last to first.

When Hobbs meets with his manager for the first time, he is not exactly greeted with a warm reception:

Hobbs: "I'm Roy Hobbs, your new right fielder".

Pop Fisher: "My what?"

Hobbs: "it's right here". (Shows Fisher the contract)

Pop Fisher: "Scotty Carson sent you here?"

Hobbs: "That's right".

Pop Fisher: "He must be nuts. Where do they find these guys?”
“Fella, you don't start playing ball at your age, you retire."

The entire scene is epic, and absurd. The manager asks about his baseball experience and Hobbs mentions that "he used to play in high school.", that he got "a little side tracked", and "I just got back into the game". Possibly this is not the sort of resume that a professional baseball manager is looking for to ensure success. And yet, things work out magically for Hobbs and Pop Fisher.

In my own way, I can relate to Hobbs. I remember having some success, such as winning a club championship in 1994 and having a rating of 2140 at one point. I would travel to chess tournaments and pack a copy of Modern Chess Openings for opening prep and Basic Chess Endings to aid with adjourned games.

I got a little side tracked. At some point, I decided that I was going to work so hard at something, I should at least get paid for it. So for more than 30 years, I worked in the healthcare industry in various roles, including working with hospitals and clinical data repositories. I did all right, but after getting married and becoming a father there really was no time for me to play in chess tournaments.

My healthcare career is winding down, although I still work with a couple of hospitals. I work more as an Uber Driver now, to make some income and get my eyes away from the computer screen. Having time on the road gives me time to think.

Something has always bothered me, which is that I never achieved the "National Master" title from the US Chess Federation. It's not such a great ambition, surely we can rattle off a list of things more important in life than that. And yet, that is the ambition I have, whether it makes sense or not.

So, I got back into the game. My eyes squint now; sometimes I don't see as well as I used to. At the first chess tournament, I found out that my BHB wind up chess clock was not welcome any more, and somehow overcame a perilous journey to learn how to set up a digital timer with a 5 second delay for tournament games. Things have changed.

Playing 25 Tournament games and Viewing the Changed Landscape

I did play some tournament games, to see where I am. In the last couple of years, I've played in 7 tournaments, and my rating has decreased from 2078 to 2057, and may go down a couple of points after the 7th tournament gets rated. In my 25 games over this stretch, I've scored 13 wins, 11 draws and 1 loss.

Junior chess is more popular now than I remember. At one tournament, I remember seeing an eight year old setting up the pieces on board two. It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him that the "kiddie" section was on the other side of the room. It was only then that I found out that he was the player who had won the previous month's tournament.

These kids are young, hungry, and they are not afraid. They look at me the same way a predator looks at fresh meat. Are they under rated? Yes, of course they are, but that is no problem. They'll just take rating points away from me and add them to their account.

My hope and ambition

Yet, I do have some ideas. My eyes squint at some things, but other things they see quite well, with the benefit of experience. I hope and pray that having got "back into the game", I can raise my tournament rating up to the necessary 2200 level. Of course, I have played my share of blitz games for fun on the internet over the years, but we all know that a tournament game is a more severe test than a 5 minute game.

Writing has been defined as "refined thinking". So, a thought I would blog about my journey and some of the challenges someone in his late 50's has. Hopefully it will be interesting and a good learning experience. Thanks for coming along for the ride!