I am a late bloomer in my interest in chess. I have played for many years-only dabbling. Within the last 3-4 months, I can truly say I got the bug. I am on chess.com just about every day now.

In my normal life, I work an office job supervising a small staff. My job can be very stressful and often requires long hours. I am married with 2 small boys.

I have noticed how much chess teaches me about "seeing the whole board" and thinking strategically. Some of the things I am working on right now are being more aware of diagonals and not over-valuing my pieces.

I have lots of interests, including reading, writing, internal martial arts (e.g. Tai Chi). I am sociable, have a quirky sense of humor, and enjoy making friends. I may be a newbie-patzer on the board, but I ain't skeered...if we don't challenge our limits how else will we grow?

Philosophical