Dennis Monokroussos is a self-taught player who became a master at the age of 17, back in the pre-computer era. Despite several long breaks from the game (generally in pursuit of academic degrees), he has maintained a USCF rating from 2350 to 2430 for many years. For the past ten years he has spent more time working successfully as a chess teacher and coach. In New York, he was a coach for the 1997-1998 US K-8 National Championship team (M.S. 118 in the Bronx) and helped two other teams come within half a point of national championship titles. Currently, in addition to his private students, he conducts a weekly internet radio show on ChessBase’s playchess.com server, reviews books for the email-based Chess Today, and writes a popular blog (http://chessmind.powerblogs.com).

Note: In 2008, Dennis earned the FM title.

Also let it be known that NM Monokroussos' official home state is Indiana! (Go Hoosiers!)

Hoosier pride!

Also, the bio has been updated to reflect the fact that Dennis is now an FM

In the classic science fiction novel "Cat's Cradle" Kurt Vonnegut specifically identifies Hoosiers as an example of a "granfalloon". What's a granfalloon you may ask, Bokonon defines it with this trenchant calypso:

"If you wish to study a granfalloon
just remove the skin from a toy balloon!"