Jonathan Corbblah

Jonathan Corbblah
A black man in a grey polo shirt is seated at a table, facing left of frame.
Corbblah in 2015
Born1979 (age 46–47)
Occupations
  • Coach
  • teacher
Known forCompeting 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. 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)
1990 Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? A basketball and US$100 (equivalent to $246.43 in 2025)
July 23, 2004 Who Wants to Be a Millionaire US$32,000 (equivalent to $54,545 in 2025)
December 13, 2010 
December 14, 2010		 Jeopardy! $14,000 (equivalent to $20,670 in 2025)
August 6, 2013 The Chase $60,000 (equivalent to $82,929 in 2025)
Shared with two other contestants
December 17, 2014 Wheel of Fortune $14,500 (equivalent to $19,720 in 2025)
May 21, 2015 500 Questions Unable to defeat Steve Bahnaman
October 10, 2024 Trivial Pursuit Unknown

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 $1,500 on Cash Cab.

References

  1. ↑ "Corbblah, Jonathan". International Chess Federation. Archived from the original on March 10, 2025. Retrieved March 10, 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 David, Noah (June 14, 2017) [2014-02-18]. "What Makes You So Smart, Jonathan Corbblah?". Pacific Standard. ISSN 1941-5672. Archived from the original on April 17, 2023. Retrieved August 30, 2023. Jonathan Corbblah wants to be on more trivia shows than any other human being ever has. He talked to Noah Davis.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Fanelli, James (December 15, 2010). "Harlem man Jonathan Corbblah settin' a record on TV, wins money on 'Jeopardy' and 'Cash Cab'". Daily News. ISSN 2692-1251. OCLC 9541172. Archived from the original on April 17, 2023. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
  4. ↑ Moore, Jack (July 2025). "The New York School" (PDF). Chess Life. pp. 32–40. Retrieved August 28, 2026.
  5. ↑ "USCF Ratings History Graph for 12758690". United States Chess Federation. Archived from the original on April 12, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Milestones History". United States Chess Federation. Archived from the original on January 11, 2024. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  7. ↑ "The Conversation: 'Game Show Guy' Jonathan Corbblah". ABC News. December 20, 2010. Archived from the original on April 16, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2023. New York man has an unusual hobby: appearing on TV game shows.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Jonathan Corbblah". J! Archive. Archived from the original on April 16, 2023. Retrieved August 30, 2023.