Chess4Life Chess Coaches
Mark Smith
has been a chess addict for over 50 years. He loves the game for its geometry, its beauty, and its lessons of persistence, creativity, and humility.
Chess Career Highlights:
more than 700 rated games in tournaments and matches
USCF over-the-board rating peak: 2062 (expert)
never-ending dream of eventual masterhood
director of dozens of tournaments
6-time city chess champion, Springfield, MO
class A Missouri state champion in year 2000
fluke rating of 2671 in correspondence chess after two masters blundered and resigned
contestant in USCF Absolute Correspondence Championship 1990
8-hour near-draw with former Cuban champion Juan Gonzalez (in the good old days before sudden-death time controls)
honor of playing in simultaneous exhibition against Edward Lasker
Education and Teaching experience:
Yale B.A., University of Miami M.A., Stony Brook Ph.D.
30 years teaching college English
2 years teaching elementary, junior high, high school English and geometry
private tutoring of several chess students
many hours of informal teaching at chess club in Springfield, MO
To balance the sedentary nature of chess, Mark craves long walks, bicycling, and tennis. He enjoys reading eight or nine books at a time in literature, in science, and in any subjects that shake common sense. His favorite writer is P.G. Wodehouse.
“Chess, like love, like music, has the power to make us happy.”
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