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Robert Hess
R Hess 
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons  

Number of games in database: 379
Years covered: 2001 to 2020
Highest rating achieved in database: 2635
Overall record: +131 -91 =125 (55.8%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games in the database. 32 exhibition games, blitz/rapid, odds games, etc. are excluded from this statistic.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS
With the White pieces:
 Sicilian (54) 
    B25 B22 B40 B23 B52
 French Defense (25) 
    C11 C01 C03 C19 C12
 Caro-Kann (20) 
    B18 B11 B10 B13 B16
 Ruy Lopez (18) 
    C77 C69 C65 C85 C67
 French (10) 
    C11 C12 C13
 Nimzo Indian (9) 
    E32 E37 E20
With the Black pieces:
 Ruy Lopez (39) 
    C67 C72 C75 C69 C71
 Nimzo Indian (26) 
    E21 E32 E20 E56 E42
 English (13) 
    A14 A17 A13 A15 A19
 Pirc (12) 
    B07 B09 B08
 Bogo Indian (10) 
    E11
 Queen's Pawn Game (10) 
    A46 A40 A45 A41 E00
Repertoire Explorer

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   R Hess vs Tiviakov, 2011 1-0
   R Hess vs F Perez, 2007 1-0
   R Hess vs K Odeh, 2009 1-0
   R Hess vs J Becerra Rivero, 2009 1-0
   R Hess vs L B Hansen, 2007 1/2-1/2
   R Hess vs E Romanov, 2011 1-0
   R Hess vs Negi, 2011 1-0
   R Hess vs Robson, 2007 1-0
   R Hess vs R Gonzalez, 2005 1-0
   J Ragnarsson vs R Hess, 2012 0-1

NOTABLE TOURNAMENTS: [what is this?]
   Foxwoods Open (2008)
   US Championship (Group B) (2011)
   US Championship (2009)
   Groningen Open-A (2011)
   Reykjavik Open (2012)
   United States Championship (2010)
   38th World Open (2010)
   Foxwoods Open (2009)
   Paris Championship (2005)
   Zurich Chess Club 200th Anniversary (2009)
   36th World Open (2008)
   23rd Czech Open A (2012)
   Reykjavik Open (2011)
   Isle of Man Masters (2018)
   Isle of Man Grand Swiss (2019)

RECENT GAMES:
   🏆 ch-USA Online Q Final
   R Hess vs T Gareyev (Dec-17-20) 0-1
   Sasikiran vs R Hess (Oct-21-19) 1-0
   R Hess vs Lenderman (Oct-20-19) 1-0
   Shankland vs R Hess (Oct-19-19) 0-1
   R Hess vs T Nabaty (Oct-18-19) 0-1

Search Sacrifice Explorer for Robert Hess
Search Google for Robert Hess
FIDE player card for Robert Hess

ROBERT HESS
(born Dec-19-1991, 33 years old) United States of America

[what is this?]

Grandmaster Robert Lee Hess won the 2006 U.S. Junior championship in chess at age 14, also winning his FM title in that year. An international master in 2007, he won his first GM norm at Foxwoods Open (2008), his second at the SPICE Spring Invitational, and was awarded his Grandmaster title after acquiring his 3rd GM norm at the Foxwoods Open (2009).

He tied for second with 6.5/9 at the US Championship (2009) with Alexander Onischuk behind winner Hikaru Nakamura, who was also the only player to whom he lost a game. In 2010, he came outright second at the Negroponte Open in Greece behind Suat Atalik. He represented the USA 2010 Olympiad team on the reserve board.

Hess was also a linebacker for the junior varsity football team at Stuyvesant High School in New York City.

References / Sources

(1) https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast... (2017 podcast interview with Ben Johnson of Perpetual Chess)

Wikipedia article: Robert Hess (chess player)

Last updated: 2023-05-27 08:13:00

Try our new games table.

 page 1 of 16; games 1-25 of 386  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. F Roselli vs R Hess 0-1202001Guaymallen PanAM-chJ U10 AbsolutoC55 Two Knights Defense
2. R Hess vs T Teodorovicz  1-0662001Guaymallen PanAM-chJ U10 AbsolutoB22 Sicilian, Alapin
3. R Hess vs E Cordova 0-1692001Guaymallen PanAM-chJ U10 AbsolutoB22 Sicilian, Alapin
4. Caruana vs R Hess 1-0312001Guaymallen PanAM-chJ U10 AbsolutoC57 Two Knights
5. R Hess vs R Maidana  1-0802001Guaymallen PanAM-chJ U10 AbsolutoB22 Sicilian, Alapin
6. B Johnson vs R Hess 1-0412001Fall FuturityC77 Ruy Lopez
7. R Hess vs J C Fernandez  0-1622001Fall FuturityB22 Sicilian, Alapin
8. R Hess vs E Matthew  1-0372001Fall FuturityC28 Vienna Game
9. J Langreck vs R Hess 1-0322003World OpenB07 Pirc
10. S Weeramantry vs R Hess  ½-½56200331st World OpenB07 Pirc
11. A Stripunsky vs R Hess 1-0452003Marshall Chess Club ChampionshipB08 Pirc, Classical
12. Y Treger vs R Hess  1-0292003Marshall Chess Club ChampionshipB07 Pirc
13. R Hess vs J Sena  1-0442003Marshall Chess Club ChampionshipC13 French
14. R Hess vs J Simon  ½-½772003Marshall Chess Club ChampionshipB07 Pirc
15. S Agaian vs R Hess  ½-½192003Marshall Chess Club ChampionshipB09 Pirc, Austrian Attack
16. R Hess vs D Shapiro  ½-½482003Marshall Chess Club ChampionshipB40 Sicilian
17. J Bonin vs R Hess  ½-½592003Marshall Chess Club ChampionshipA00 Uncommon Opening
18. R Hess vs Fedorowicz 0-1392003Marshall Chess Club ChampionshipB23 Sicilian, Closed
19. R Hess vs A Skripchenko  0-1402004101st New York MastersB40 Sicilian
20. A Wojtkiewicz vs R Hess  ½-½602004Vermont CCA/ICC opA04 Reti Opening
21. A Wojtkiewicz vs R Hess  1-040200432nd World OpenA04 Reti Opening
22. J Stocek vs R Hess  1-042200432nd World OpenC28 Vienna Game
23. R Hess vs A Feuerstein  1-0502004New York State-chB40 Sicilian
24. C Bean vs R Hess 0-1282004G30 Marshall C.CC45 Scotch Game
25. Nakamura vs R Hess 1-0432004New York Masters 127thC75 Ruy Lopez, Modern Steinitz Defense
 page 1 of 16; games 1-25 of 386  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Hess wins | Hess loses  

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 7 OF 7 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Dec-26-11  heuristic: <knight13>
college=yale, major=finance
Dec-26-11  Shams: Great, another young talent going into Finance. Just what we need.
Dec-26-11  frogbert: it's probably more about what hess needs, i assume. ;o)
Dec-30-11  Knight13: <Shams> Well, what did you have in mind?
Dec-30-11  Knight13: <heuristic> Yale is a perfect place to study finance.
Jan-01-12  jsy: I believe Yale in fact does not have a finance major for undergrads. But it probably doesn't matter since "non-finance" majors are routinely hired into finance. Hess already has a highly valued GM "degree" in chess. Such a "degree" is highly valued by finance (and non-finance) employers (no kidding). Why else would promising American chess players just disappear in their late teens.
Jan-02-12  Knight13: <jsy> My mistake.

Now I'm beginning to wonder if he even goes to Yale.

Jan-04-12  Caissanist: Good result at Groningen, tying for first with Ukraninan GM Alexander Kovchan: http://www.schaakstadgroningen.nl/f... .
Mar-11-12  nolanryan: strong player for the US. awesome for us to have someone this strong on the reserve board at the olympiad. If only Caruana would represent his home country....
Apr-14-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  keypusher: Here's to the POTD! I've liked him ever since I came across this game.

R Hess vs Y Shulman, 2009

Apr-15-12  BlackSheep: Robert Lee Hess , sounds like a Civil War Nazi .
Oct-03-12  waustad: Somebody posted on another site that he'd retired from chess, but he's playing in the US Chess League now: http://uschessleague.com/results.ph...
Aug-01-14  Xeroxx: His games are also available at Hessgames.com
Dec-19-14  waustad: Happy birthday. The games mentioned in the previous post are video games, not chess games. He plays only occasionally now, with his last FIDE rated games some blitz early this summer.
May-23-15  TheFocus: <The psychological aspect of chess may be my strongest point. You cannot think how a win will affect your tournament result. Only think about one game at a time, and not how a result will help or hurt you. It is okay to win, lose, or draw a game. It happens. You cannot get stuck on a single-game result> - Robert Hess.
May-23-15  TheFocus: If this man had a chess column, the title "Hess on Chess" suggests itself.
Dec-11-20  Messiah: His opening as Black in the 1st round of US Chess Online Qualifier, against Mr. Lenderman, is a tiny bit insane, but, interestingly, he is not terribly worse:

1. c4 b6 2. d4 Bb7 3. Nf3 e6 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Nbd2 Bxf3 6. exf3 Ne7 7. a3 Bxd2+ 8. Bxd2 O-O 9. Bd3 Nbc6 10. Bc3 d5 11. O-O dxc4 12. Bxc4 Qd6 13. Qd3 and the attack on d4 rages wild.

Mar-22-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  MissScarlett: Informative Q&A: https://www.sportskeeda.com/chess/g...
Dec-19-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  eternaloptimist: Happy 30th birthday to GM Robert Hess! I met him a few years ago @ the St. Louis Chess Club during a U S Championship. I sat in a room w/ some ppl listening to him & GM Eric Hansen give live commentary to the games. The live commentary was restricted to that room & was not broadcasted online. Both of them did a great job. Now I enjoy listening to their commentary on twitch (Hansen for chessbrah) & chess.com (Hess). I met both of them & got their autographs. Robert is a 😎 & humorous guy & he’s 1 of my favorite chess players <MissScarlett> thx for that link! I’m going to read that article!
Dec-19-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  MissScarlett: Do you think Robert would be happy for us to take down his middle name?
Dec-19-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  eternaloptimist: Ah so u r referring to Robert E Lee’s statue being taken down in Richmond, Virginia. Perhaps so 🤔...I’ll ask him if I get the chance 😉
Jun-03-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  OhioChessFan: <Hess was also a linebacker for Stuyvesant High School's junior varsity team in New York City.>

Probably the most random sentence of any bio on the site....

Jun-03-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  HeMateMe: I'm most surprised that Stuyvesant, a geek 'genius' school in NYC even has a football team.
Dec-19-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  OhioChessFan: Came here because he's POTD, read the bio, wondered what in the world the high school football reference was about, then saw I'd referenced it two years ago. Kind of a ridiculous point to include.
Dec-19-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  Check It Out: Its also funny that the bio doesn't reference his popularity as a chess commentator. He's one of the best.
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