Jonathan Corbblah
American game show competitor and chess player (born 1979)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jonathan Corbblah (born 1979) is a chess master from New York City, known for his appearances on many American game shows.
- Coach
- teacher
Jonathan Corbblah | |
|---|---|
Corbblah in 2015 | |
| Born | 1979 (age 46–47) |
| Occupations |
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| Known for | Competing on game shows |
Personal life
Jonathan Corbblah was born in 1979.[1] 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.[2]
In December 2010, he was married and living in Harlem.[3] By February 2014, he was coaching individuals and teams for national trivia championships, and taught Scrabble[2] to schoolchildren.[3]
Games and game shows
Corbblah learned to play chess at age six or seven.[2] 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).[4] In December 2002, he became a USCF Candidate Master,[5] and in 2014, Pacific Standard reported he was a master-level chess player.[2]
Corbblah was eleven years old in 1990 when he appeared on his first game show, PBS' Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?.[3] 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";[6] he has appeared on at least seven.
| 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) | [3] |
| July 23, 2004 | Who Wants to Be a Millionaire | US$32,000 (equivalent to $54,545 in 2025) | [7] |
| December 13, 2010 December 14, 2010 |
Jeopardy! | $14,000 (equivalent to $20,670 in 2025) | [7] |
| August 6, 2013 | The Chase | $60,000 (equivalent to $82,929 in 2025) Shared with two other contestants |
[7] |
| December 17, 2014 | Wheel of Fortune | $14,500 (equivalent to $19,720 in 2025) | [7] |
| May 21, 2015 | 500 Questions | Unable to defeat Steve Bahnaman | [7] |
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.[7] He has also won $1,500 on Cash Cab.[3]