I started playing chess at age 5 when my father taught me.  He used me as a punching bag until I was in 7th grade, when I decided to check out a chess book from the library.  With the help of Fred Reinfeld, I started using dad as MY punching bag, and soon he wouldn't play me any more.  My uncle began taking me to the wonderful Zanesville, Ohio chess club, where the guys took me under their wing and taught me all they knew.  I became the state junior high champ in 1984, but lost the state high school championship on a tiebreak in 1988.  I kept playing in both regular and scholastic tournaments through college, but have been inactive since briefly coming out of retirement for the New York State Championship in 2004.  I play mainly blitz and occasional tournaments on chess.com now, though I sometimes show up at the chess stores on Thompson Street in the West Village to play blitz.

My heros (if I had to choose the players that have inspired me most):  Savielly Tartakower, Aron Nimzowitsch, Alexei Shirov, and Judit Polgar.  My style is erratic, and depending on which day you catch me, I might play swashbuckling romantic gambits, weird flank openings, or dig in my heels in a cramped but solid opening like the French or the Philidor. I love the endgame!

I've attached a couple of my favorite games, on the offchance anyone but me is interested.

Current Games (2)

	Opponent	Game	# Moves	Time Left	Status
	Lancasterlad	Let's Play!	5	3 days
	AccLawProf	Let's Play!	16	3 days