My buddy Mike — aka “Chess Rocky” — has been training for this big moment for months.
If you follow my Substack, you probably know about the project I undertook: coaching my rusty Master friend who hasn’t touched a chess piece in over ten years for the Daniel Naroditsky Memorial in Charlotte. (If you are new here, you can catch up on this Adult Improver journey here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3).
For the final phase of Chess Rocky’s preparation, I had him play a 10-game blitz match against my good friend, GM Bryan Smith.
The match started with a huge upset as Mike unleashed a powerful idea from my Chessable Grand Prix Attack course.
Black was afraid to take the piece, eventually got outplayed, and blundered in time pressure.
The glory was short-lived, as Mike went on to lose a few games in a row. Yet, we know that he’s as scrappy as Rocky Balboa. Later in the match, the Hungarian Dragon did its magic, and Mike was able to pull off another upset victory!
Black to move and win.
Mike won with a brilliant combo: 22…Rb1+ 23.Kc2 (if king takes the rook that …Qb5+ and …Qb2 mate) 23…Qxa2+ 24.Kxc3 Qb2 mate!
The final result was an 8-2 loss for Mike. But honestly, scoring 2 wins against a strong GM before the tournament even begins is already a massive victory in my book.
Now, we are officially in Charlotte, and the blitz tournament is currently underway!
As I’m writing this, Mike started with a tough 0/2, but just bounced back to score a HUGE upset by beating the famous French IM and content creator, Julien Song!
Let’s go!!!
Mike has drawn first blood, and he’s fully ready to take on the Super-GMs!
Here are some pictures from Charlotte:
Stay tuned for the next update after the event. Wish Mike luck in the comments!
How does a 48-year-old Master take a 10-year break and come back to beat an active International Master?
He does it by relying on intuition and practical, “Old Man Chess” structures rather than trying to memorize deep, stressful engine lines. The Hungarian Dragon and the Grand Prix Attack gave him positions he understood, allowing him to save his mental energy for the tactical brawls.
If you want a complete system that teaches you how to win with understanding rather than raw calculation, I’ve packaged my absolute best systems into the Tournament Starter Kit.
When you upgrade to a paid membership of Grandmaster Secrets, you instantly unlock:
The 1.e4 Traps PGN. Paid members get early access to the PGN file for the most common traps from my Upcoming 1.e4 Chessable course right now in the Openings Vault.
The 2026 Tournament Starter Kit: My complete “Old Man” repertoire (Catalan, Jobava London, Hyper-Accelerated Dragon, Nimzo-Indian) designed to be learned in just 40 minutes, featuring full video lessons and PGNs.
The Openings Vault: A permanent library of “Gambit Killers” to help you stop falling for common club-level traps as well as a new weapon: The Hungarian Dragon.
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