Jonathan Corbblah
{{short description|American game show competitor and chess master (born 1979)}}
{{use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Jonathan Corbblah
| image = Jonathan Corbblah.jpg
| alt = A black man in a grey polo shirt is seated at a table, facing left of frame.
| caption = Corbblah in 2015
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1979}}
| occupation = {{hlist|Coach|teacher}}
| known_for = Competing on game shows
}}
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. As a child, he was almost held back in the first grade because he was illiterate; after his father—a Christian preacher—spent the summer drilling academics non-stop, by the next academic year, he was ahead of his second-grade class.
{{As of|2010|12}}, he was married and living in Harlem. {{As of|2014|02|alt=By February 2014}}, he was coaching individuals and teams for national trivia championships, and taught Scrabble to schoolchildren.
Games and game shows
Corbblah learned to play chess at age six or seven. 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 seven.
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="width: 100%;" | |
| scope="col" | Date(s)
! scope="col" | Show ! scope="col" | Result ! class="unsortable" | Citation(s) | |
|---|---|
| {{date table sorting|1990 | |format=mdy}}
! scope="row" | Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? | A basketball and {{US$|100|1990}} |
| {{date table sorting|2004|07|23|format=mdy}}
! scope="row" | Who Wants to Be a Millionaire | {{US$|32000|2004}} | |
| {{date table sorting|2010|12|13|format=mdy}}{{spaces}} December 14, 2010 ! scope="row" | Jeopardy! | {{US$|14000|2010|long=no}} | |
| {{date table sorting|2013|08|06|format=mdy}}
! scope="row" | The Chase | {{US$|60000|2013|long=no}} | |
| {{date table sorting|2014|12|17|format=mdy}}
! scope="row" | Wheel of Fortune | {{US$|14500|2014|long=no}} | |
| {{date table sorting|2015|05|21|format=mdy}}
! scope="row" | 500 Questions |
In summer 2019, he was a guest expert on several episodes of Best Ever Trivia Show, and then as a master mind on several 2020–2021 episodes of Master Minds. He has also won {{US$|1500|long=no}} on Cash Cab.
References
{{reflist |refs=
{{cite news |last1=Fanelli |first1=James |date=2010-12-15 |title=Harlem man Jonathan Corbblah settin' a record on TV, wins money on 'Jeopardy' and 'Cash Cab' |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/harlem-man-jonathan-corbblah-settin-record-tv-wins-money-jeopardy-cash-cab-article-1.472679 |url-status=live |work=Daily News |language=en |issn=2692-1251 |oclc=9541172 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417081428/http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/harlem-man-jonathan-corbblah-settin-record-tv-wins-money-jeopardy-cash-cab-article-1.472679 |archive-date=2023-04-17 |access-date=2023-08-30}}
{{cite news |date=2010-12-20 |title=The Conversation: 'Game Show Guy' Jonathan Corbblah |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/game-show-guy-jonathan-corbblah-converstion/story?id=12439701 |url-status=live |language=en |publisher=ABC News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230416045239/https://abcnews.go.com/US/game-show-guy-jonathan-corbblah-converstion/story?id=12439701 |archive-date=2023-04-16 |access-date=2023-08-29 |quote=New York man has an unusual hobby: appearing on TV game shows.}}
{{cite magazine |last1=David |first1=Noah |date=2017-06-14 |orig-date=2014-02-18 |title=What Makes You So Smart, Jonathan Corbblah? |url=https://psmag.com/social-justice/what-makes-you-so-smart-jonathan-corbblah-74826 |url-status=live |magazine=Pacific Standard |language=en |issn=1941-5672 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417085142/https://psmag.com/social-justice/what-makes-you-so-smart-jonathan-corbblah-74826 |archive-date=2023-04-17 |access-date=2023-08-30 |quote=Jonathan Corbblah wants to be on more trivia shows than any other human being ever has. He talked to Noah Davis.}}
{{cite web |title=Corbblah, Jonathan |url=https://ratings.fide.com/profile/2038641/chart |language=en |publisher=International Chess Federation |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250310213021/https://ratings.fide.com/profile/2038641/chart |archive-date=2025-03-10 |access-date=2025-03-10}}
{{cite web |url=https://j-archive.com/showplayer.php?player_id=7109 |title=Jonathan Corbblah |publisher=J! Archive |language=en |access-date=2023-08-30 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230416042837/https://j-archive.com/showplayer.php?player_id=7109 |archive-date=2023-04-16}}
{{cite web |url=https://www.uschess.org/msa/MbrDtlMilestones.php?12758690 |title=Milestones History |publisher=United States Chess Federation |language=en |access-date=2024-01-19 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240111030331/https://www.uschess.org/msa/MbrDtlMilestones.php?12758690 |archive-date=2024-01-11}}
{{cite web |url=http://www.uschess.org/datapage/ratings_graph.php?memid=12758690 |title=USCF Ratings History Graph for 12758690 |publisher=United States Chess Federation |language=en |access-date=2023-08-29 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412040225/http://www.uschess.org/datapage/ratings_graph.php?memid=12758690 |archive-date=2023-04-12}}
}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|7342356}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Corbblah, Jonathan}}
Category:20th-century American chess players
Category:21st-century American chess players
Category:American Scrabble players
Category:contestants on American game shows
Category:educators from New York City
Category:entertainers from New York City