Splash Biography

Brief Biographical Sketch:

As much as I have loved playing chess throughout my life, I admit that there's something even more fulfilling about teaching people how to play the game (and to play it well). I was inspired by a coach in high school who taught me that hours spent studying and playing the game will inevitably lead to positive results. Years later, I have many experiences to share--including playing at K-12 Nationals three times and playing on the runner-up state championship high school team numerous times--but I realized that I enjoyed teaching chess at my high school a lot. I've taught K-12 students at the Whitney Young Chess Camp twice, and I often go back to help with tournaments--I meet new kids, show them a few positions, go through a couple of their games.

Now I play chess at the University of Chicago. We've accomplished a lot the first time we were there, including winning a section for our team at Amateur Team North and soundly beating our rival Northwestern at their own tournament. We've also promoted chess in the community--we even invited former US Champion Yury Shulman to play over 30 simultaneous games against various university and community members!

My goal is to promote chess as a peaceful, interesting, and fulfilling game for people of all backgrounds to appreciate and enjoy.

Past Classes