I am now 28 and currently residing in Cumberland MD. I learned chess at 8. One unique thing about my young chess experiences is I never lost a game against other kids my age. None of us knew of sophisticated chess strategy or USCF. I learned of USCF when i was 15, and I began to enter tournaments. I had decent results winning several state and local scholastic tournaments and making it to the Maryland Sweet 16 High School tournament only to lose to top seed Raymond Kaufman who is now a FM and his father is an IM. I drew GM Lubomir Kavalek in a simul at the 1996 US Open. He played 25 boards and only ceded 2 draws. I had only been playing chess for six months competitively! I also recently in 2006 finished 2nd in the World Open U1800 section winning $4000. I dont get a chance to play tournaments very often so my rating is not very accurate. I have learned chess by myself and have never been coached so my learning experiences are not tainted. I strive for objectivity, unbiased, artful, and creative chess. I like to play imbalanced positions, this is my forte. I am very tactical but also positional understanding is not without precedence. I hope you will choose me as your chess coach. Some of my video lectures can be found at www.chessvideos.tv. Feel free to email me at jbeatty@chess.com