Jonathan Corbblah (born 1979) is a chess master from New York City, known for his appearances on many American game shows.
Personal life Jonathan Corbblah was born in 1979. In first grade, Corbblah struggled to read and was nearly held back; his father, a preacher, withdrew him from the school and tutored him intensively over the summer, and Corbblah began second grade well ahead of his class.
In December 2010, he was married and living in Harlem. By February 2014, he was coaching individuals and teams for national trivia championships, and taught Scrabble to schoolchildren. As of 2025, Corbblah had taught chess in New York City public and private schools for more than 20 years, including at the Trinity School; in May 2025, his students won the K–1 team championship at the SuperNationals VIII scholastic tournament.
Games and game shows Corbblah learned to play chess at age six or seven. He began competing at around age 12 and, after a hiatus, resumed playing as a high school junior against players in New York City parks, which he credits with his rise toward master level. According to the United States Chess Federation, since he began playing ranked matches in the late 1990s, Corbblah has a top regular Elo rating of 2199 (earned between 2010 and 2014) and a top blitz rating of 2262 (in 2019). In December 2002, he became a USCF Candidate Master, and in 2014, Pacific Standard reported he was a master-level chess player.
Corbblah was eleven years old in 1990 when he appeared on his first game show, PBS' Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?. In December 2010, after his two days on Jeopardy!, he told ABC News that "I'm trying to go on as many possible game shows as I can"; he has appeared on at least ten.
Date(s) Show Result Citation(s) Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? A basketball and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire December 14, 2010 Jeopardy! The Chase Shared with two other contestants Wheel of Fortune 500 Questions Unable to defeat Steve Bahnaman Trivial Pursuit In summer 2019, he was a guest expert on several episodes of Best Ever Trivia Show, and then as a master mind on several 2020–2021 episodes of Master Minds. He has also won on Cash Cab.
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