hissha

I was born in 1947 in Washington, D.C. and still live near D.C. My first chess teacher, Harold Phillips, was the 1895 NY Champion and played against the first World Champion, Steinitz, in 1894! I won the American Open Championship in 1966 and was the nation's top rated junior then. I graduated from M.I.T. in 1968, where I worked on the first chess program (MacHack) to earn a rating in human tournaments (mid 1500s). I became a Senior Master and played in my first of four U.S. championships in 1972 (the other three were in the early 2000s). I ran a stock option trading company ("Chess Options") from 1976 to 1986, since then I've worked full time in chess in various aspects. I earned the International Master title in 1980 and was then just outside the world's top 100 according to "Chessmetrics" website. I was chairman of the USCF ratings committe for most of the 1980s, and during that time became the top ranked non-Japanese player of shogi (Japanese chess). Around 1990 I developed several chess programs in partnership with Don Dailey. I reached my highest USCF rating (2538) just before my 50th birthday. In 2008 I won the World Senior Championship and thus became a Grandmaster. I was the number two guy developing Rybka in 2007 and 2008, after which I worked on KomodoChess with the late Don Dailey thru 2013, since then with Mark Lefler. I am currently the top rated U.S. player over age 75 who still competes regularly. I have authored five chess books. I have three children, one of whom, Raymond Kaufman, is an I.M. I became part of the chess.com family when chess.com purchased a share of KomodoChess at the start of 2018. I retired from running KomodoChess in 2023 and am now a consultant for chess.com on komodochess and Torch. I am the current Maryland Chess Champion (tenth time), at age 76.