Hi everyone! My name is Joseph Truelson. I’m a National Master and am currently the #1 ranked player in North Dakota.

I’ve been playing chess for over 10 years. Perhaps my most memorable event was the 2019 National High School Championship, where I got the master title and also got interviewed by the commentators at the event. That interview can be found here.

I also tied for first in the 2019 Washington Open, my best tournament yet, as I got 2 major upsets, one against IM Georgi Orlov (2466 FIDE!) That’s also where I won the money that I’m holding in my profile picture, where I am pictured with Kyle Haining, who tied for first with me. I also finished 2nd in the 2018 US Junior Open and tied for 2nd in the 2019 US Junior Open.

My approach to chess has generally been to emphasize making less mistakes. Most people try to do millions of tactics, read books by Grandmasters on how to improve their strategy, and play hours on end. While all of those are helpful, I think they tend to not focus enough on what I believe is more important: not blundering.

I’m also the Deer Leader of the RAR movement, which you can join here: https://www.chess.com/club/classic-rar. The goal of the group is to be funny, and we make a lot of great jokes that the rest of the world fail to appreciate.

I’ve also released a Chessable course, “Crush the King's Gambit”! I think the opening has finally been completely refuted.

Here are some links. I am a real person (unlike you!)

Joseph_Truelson