Blind date: ‘My mom has tried to set me up on blind dates. That has not quite worked out.’

Will this chess master find his queen?

This week's daters: Johnny and Tarah.

JOHNNY S.: 37 / owner of a chess tutoring company

HIS HOBBIES: Playing and teaching chess, running

WHO PLAYS HIM IN THE MOVIE: Tom Hanks

TARAH S.: 31 / human resources

HER HOBBIES: Swimming, reading, travel

WHAT MAKES HER A CATCH: She’s fiercely loyal and emotionally intelligent.

2 P.M. MONUMENT RESTAURANT & TAVERN, CHARLESTOWN

ON THE BOARD

Johnny My mom has tried to set me up on blind dates. That has not quite worked out.

Tarah I texted my friends and sister, and watched a few shows.

Johnny I did a 30-minute boot camp workout on my Peloton.

Tarah I’ve never been on a true blind date, so I felt nervous but open to the experience.

Johnny I’m a runner and always compare [first dates] to running a race. I’m the most nervous on the starting line, but once that gun goes off and I actually start, the nerves seem to calm down.

Tarah The hostess escorted me to our table.

Johnny I got there early and drank some water while I waited. The hostess brought Tarah over.

Tarah [He] was dressed nicely with a button-up shirt and a smartwatch. He looked older than me.

OPENING GAMBIT

Johnny Tarah seemed calm and outgoing. We ordered drinks and immediately started talking. We delayed ordering food since we were so engrossed in conversation.

Tarah Johnny is a very interesting person. He owns his own chess teaching company, which I admire. We talked a lot about TV and books. We also talked about the Boston dating scene and dating apps.

Johnny Tarah talked about her work in human resources and I talked about running my own chess tutoring business with my mom as an instructor — I think she got a kick out of that. She mentioned watching The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix and being inspired to learn chess as a result. I told her it is never too late to learn the game.

Tarah He is a very nice person and we had a good conversation for about two hours.

Johnny There were no awkward silences — the conversation seemed easygoing. After a hiatus from dating, I was pleasantly surprised to have such a nice first date.

Tarah I ordered a chicken sandwich and a blackberry margarita. I have been to the restaurant and the service and food are awesome.

Johnny I ordered the pork carnitas hash. The food was excellent.

Tarah When we were talking about books and our TV show interests, I thought, I could see us being great friends.

IT’S A DRAW

Johnny We did not do anything after the date. I texted her after I got home to say I enjoyed meeting her. She texted back that she also enjoyed the date.

Tarah I told Johnny that I had a nice time and we exchanged numbers. We walked out together, hugged, and said our goodbyes.

POST-MORTEM

Johnny / B+

Tarah / A-

SECOND DATE?

Johnny We said it would be fun to hang out again.

Tarah I didn’t feel much of a romantic connection with him. I would love to have him as a friend to discuss books, shows, and our funny dating stories.