My love for the royal game began in kindergarten in my after school chess club. I became intrigued with the complexity of the game and began to practice chess and read chess books. Through this work over many years, I have become who I am now. I believe that all kids who are willing to put in the time to practice chess will become a strong player.
Even more than other players, I am of the opinion that a superior strategic understanding of the game will allow players at all levels, especially beginners, to improve rapidly. Tactics are wonderful tools to have, but without strategy it is difficult to reach a position where these tactics can be used. Also, knowing better strategy than your opponents will make your results much, much more consistent because your middle game positions are almost always equal or better than your opponent’s. Furthermore, strategy can be used to restrict the opponent’s pieces and ultimately ensure that winning positions are won— something that all chess players have painfully struggled with. Therefore, I will be focusing on chess strategy in future articles.
Besides chess, I play golf for my high school team and enjoy bridge. Both of these games require the same mental focus necessary for playing chess at a high level. In academics, I am passionate about mathematics. Studying chess has improved my logic skills and thus my mathematics.
I am very grateful for the chess knowledge I have gained from chess coaches, family, and personal experience. I believe that it is important to give back to the community. Therefore, I am very excited to share this knowledge in the form of chess articles. I’ll write more to you soon!
Here is one of my favorite games. It was my first win against an International Master (IM).