Dan Heisman
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Dan Heisman is a United States Chess Federation National Master and author. He is the two-time Open chess champion of Philadelphia (1973 and 1976), and the Philadelphia Invitational Chess Champion (1973) His Penn State team won the U.S. Amateur Team Championship in 1972. Although rated over 2200 by both the United States Chess Federation and FIDE, he is currently inactive as a tournament player. Mr. Heisman is a member of the International Computer Game Association and worked at both Kasparov-Deep Blue matches (1996 and 1997).
Mr. Heisman authors the award-winning Novice Nook columnist, aimed at improving adults, for the popular Chess Cafe Web site. He has also written eight books on chess, including Elements of Positional Chess Evaluation, Everyone's 2nd Chess Book, and Looking for Trouble.
Mr. Heisman is well-known throughout the Philadelphia chess scene. His chess activities include promoting local chess, hosting a chess radio show "Ask the Renaissance Man" on ICC Webcast, and organizing events like the Philadelphia Championship and Philadelphia Junior Championship. He is currently Vice-President of the Main Line Chess Club and the SE Scholastic Coordinator for the PA State Chess Federation. He maintains an extensive web page which provides information on Philadelphia area chess and many articles on chess improvement.
Mr. Heisman began his career as an engineer and worked in that capacity with several organizations, including the Naval Air Development Center and Intermetrics, Inc. Later, Mr. Heisman became a Registered Investment Adviser in PA; he has been a full-time chess instructor and author since 1996. He is also a member of the Society of American Baseball Research and had a baseball newsletter, "Baseball's Active Leaders". His hobbies include backgammon, science fiction, collecting comic books, and following the Philadelphia sports teams.
Mr. Heisman is related to John Heisman, the football coach who left the endowment for the Heisman Trophy. Mr. Heisman's paternal great-grandfather, Aaron, was John Heisman's first cousin.
Mr. Heisman is married to Shelly Hahn. His first wife, Susan "Holly" Hollis Bloom Heisman, died of breast cancer in 1994; they had one son, Delen, a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University. Mr. Heisman was born in Willow Grove, PA in 1950 and currently lives in Wynnewood, PA.
[edit] Education
Mr. Heisman graduated from Hatboro-Horsham (PA) HS as the co-valedictorian in 1968. He attended Caltech and transferred to Penn State in 1969. In 1971 Mr. Heisman graduated at the top of his class earning a B.S. in Mathematics, and in 1983, again at the top of his class with a 4.0 G.P.A., received his Masters Degree in Engineering, both from The Pennsylvania State University.
