I don’t mean to alarm you or anything, because my chess life isn’t over. I am planning to play next weekend, in fact. However, I have definitely played my last rated game of 2014, and that inspired me to go to my member page at uschess.org to see how I did this year. The answer: +15 -12 =11, for a somewhat tepid winning percentage of 53.9 percent. However, that includes a lot of games against masters, so I am not complaining.
It surprised me to see that they showed this as being my third most active year (38 games), with only 1992 and 2008 (40 games) being more active. This surprised me because I felt as if I didn’t get to play as much as I wanted this year. The USCF computerized records start only in the fall of 1991, and there were several years before 1991 when I played more than 40 games. My most active year was 1985, with 60 games played.
I know for sure that nobody cares about this but me, but just for the hell of it I decided to supplement the USCF computer with my own pre-1991 records and create a nearly complete record of My Chess Life. Unfortunately, I am missing a few games in five years: 1982, 1983, 1984, 1990, and 1991. Also, I didn’t keep track of my wins, losses, and draws separately before 1982 — only my total score for each year.
| Year | Games | Record | Win % | Notes/Highlights |
| 1972 | 8 | 2½ – 5½ | 31.3 | First USCF rating (1226) |
| 1973 | 11 | 7½ – 3½ | 68.2 | |
| 1974 | 20 | 12 – 8 | 60.0 | |
| 1975 | 10 | 4½ – 5½ | 45.0 | |
| 1976 | 22 | 12 – 10 | 54.5 | Largest rating jump, 1 tnmt. (1669 to 1838) |
| 1977 | 23 | 14½ – 8½ | 63.0 | |
| 1978 | 29 | 15 – 14 | 51.7 | |
| 1979 | 22 | 12½ – 9½ | 56.8 | |
| 1980 | 6 | 3 – 3 | 50.0 | Quit for two years during grad school |
| 1981 | 0 | 0 – 0 | 0.0 | First Chess Life article published (“Chess in Russia”) |
| 1982 | > 16 | +8 -5 =3 | 59.4 | |
| 1983 | > 6 | +5 -1 =0 | 83.3 | Defeated Belle (World Champ. Computer) Moved to North Carolina |
| 1984 | > 25 | +10 -11 =4 | 48.0 | |
| 1985 | 60 | +26 -19 =15 | 55.8 | North Carolina State Champion |
| 1986 | 40 | +17 -11 =12 | 57.5 | |
| 1987 | 53 | +28 -15 =10 | 62.3 | North Carolina State Champion Earned National Master title |
| 1988 | 42 | +23 -7 =12 | 69.0 | Won Atlanta Spring Open |
| 1989 | 44 | +25 -14 =5 | 62.5 | Moved to Ohio Won Roosevelt Open (Dayton, OH) |
| 1990 | > 42 | +19 -11 =12 | 59.5 | |
| 1991 | > 31 | +12 -14 = 5 | 46.8 | |
| 1992 | 40 | +19 -8 =13 | 63.7 | |
| 1993 | 33 | +21 -6 =6 | 72.7 | Co-winner of Roosevelt Open |
| 1994 | 38 | +17 -15 =6 | 52.6 | Peak USCF rating (2257) |
| 1995 | 30 | +11 -10 =9 | 51.7 | Peak FIDE rating (2200) |
| 1996 | 16 | +5 -6 =5 | 46.9 | Moved to California |
| 1997 | 12 | +4 -2 =6 | 58.3 | |
| 1998 | 26 | +12 -8 =6 | 57.7 | |
| 1999 | 22 | +10 -8 =4 | 54.5 | |
| 2000 | 19 | +12 -5 =2 | 68.4 | |
| 2001 | 21 | +11 -6 =4 | 61.9 | |
| 2002 | 35 | +22 -10 =3 | 67.1 | |
| 2003 | 28 | +14 -8 =6 | 60.7 | |
| 2004 | 18 | +6 -9 =3 | 41.7 | |
| 2005 | 27 | +11 -13 =3 | 46.3 | |
| 2006 | 26 | +13 -7 =6 | 61.5 | First lecture at www.chesslecture.com |
| 2007 | 30 | +9 -13 =8 | 43.3 | Mackenzie-Pruess (Reno, 2006) published in Chess Life and Informant Launched “dana blogs chess” |
| 2008 | 40 | +19 -14 =7 | 56.3 | |
| 2009 | 38 | +17 -15 =6 | 52.6 | Earned Life Master title |
| 2010 | 27 | +6 -11 =10 | 40.7 | |
| 2011 | 22 | +7 -8 =7 | 47.7 | Mackenzie-Pruess (Reno, 2006) named Game of the Day at www.chessgames.com |
| 2012 | 37 | +15 -10 =12 | 56.8 | |
| 2013 | 30 | +12 -6 =12 | 60.0 | |
| 2014 | 38 | +15 -12 =11 | 53.9 |
Lifetime totals (all known games): 1163 rated games played
Wins (known since 1982, estimated before 1982*): 530
Losses (known since 1982, estimated before 1982*): 371
Draws (known since 1982, estimated before 1982*): 262
* Draws, wins, and losses before 1982 were based on estimate of ~20 percent draws.
Winning percentage (all known games): 56.8
By the way, if you’re wondering, “How many missing games are there?” I would guess in the single digits for every year except 1983. In 1983 I definitely started playing actively after moving to North Carolina, but I don’t have any records for that year. My guess for the total number of missing games for all five years would be around 30.
Happy New Year to everyone!
