Norway's Newest ChessKid Star!

So there's this Norwegian guy who is pretty good at chess...And he lives in Texas!

That's right ChessKids, we're not talking about Magnus today. FunMasterMike recently traveled to Houston, TX for their state championship. One of the section winners was a boy named Julian who just moved there from Norway. Here's his story, as told by his family:

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Julian started playing chess when he got a small chessboard in his Christmas calendar in December, 2016. He didn't know anything about the game or how to play. After a few weeks he got ahold of it and played regularly for three months, but then we had to pack up everything for the move (to Texas). So the chess board was on the shipment and gone for four months.

When Julian heard there was a chess club at school he joined at once. It's a small school with 300 kids in total and 15 are in the chess club, which meets twice a week either before or after school.

Julian (fourth from right) and his school chess team at the Texas State Scholastic Championship. Photo courtesy Julian's family.

Their chess teacher Trevor Edwards uses only ChessKid to teach them chess, so Julian got a username and started playing and learning more through that. He has used "Play Magnus" before we moved to the U.S., but this it not an educational app, like ChessKid.

Here's one of Julian's quick wins on ChessKid:

When we moved here there was a lot to learn and adapt to the American society, and for Julian it was hard. But in chess there was something familiar and safe so joining the chess club was really good for him. It helped his reading and language since his teacher gave him American chess magazines to read.

After going a perfect 7-0, Julian was featured on his local t.v. station! Screenshot: KFDX.

Trevor spoke very highly of his chess characteristics so he entered him in a tournament in Fort Worth in October, which he won. After that it really motivated him to go higher so he set a goal that he wanted to be state champion in his class. So he has worked hard, read magazines and books about chess, played with both family and friends and of course used ChessKid.

In Norway chess is a very big because of Magnus Carlsen. His success motivates people, both young and old and he has woken the interest around chess. He is making it fun and cool!