Behind the Avatar - Drummer_GD_Elijah

Interview conducted on August 12, 2025.

Me: Hello and welcome to Episode 10 of Behind the Avatar! The interviewee today is @Drummer_GD_Elijah. How are you?

Elijah: I'm doing pretty good thanks. How bout you

Me: I'm doing good as well, thanks! Let's get started. Firstly, why don't you tell us a bit about yourself?

Elijah: Well let's see here...My name is Elijah, I'm 15 years old, and I'm homeschooled...I also love drumming and playing Geometry Dash. Most of that's in my username XD Not sure what else to say.

Me: All interesting info. Oh no here comes sailsword- I think that just about answers the first part of the next question, but has your username been anything other than your current one?

Elijah: UH OH HERE'S SAILSWORD- Yep, it was originally Typist_Eijah on a different account (which I later gave to my younger brother), then I made a new account, and that one was Drummer_Typist_Elijah. Then later I changed it to the one I have now (since I was really into GD more and further away from Nitro Type, which I used to grind a lot XD)

Me: Nice. It feels like everyone I've interviewed has had a previous username lol. Why did you choose your current pfp?

Elijah: Well, I was in a daily game tournament (actually I was in quite a few, I kinda half miss the days when I had 70+ games going on at once), and anyways, I was looking at the profile of one of my opponents, and I clicked on the profile on someone they friended, and they had that pfp. I thought it was hilarious and very true so I decided to use it. I've had a few temporary changes to my pfp but this has always been my main one.

Me: 70+ games O_O (wait that's not related to pfps-) I also agree it's funny! Maybe that person will read this blog and say hi. How did you find Chess.com social and what is your opinion on it?

Elijah: No idea how I found it. Actually, probably cause I kept getting club invites.

Elijah: My opinion? Well, for one, it could be a distraction if you're trying to get better at chess, even if it's actual chess discussion. Second, it's a great spot for trolls (think Xumi, Viroh, others), drama (I am NOT giving examples for the sake of the comment section on this blog), advertising, whether ethical or unethical (remember those Indian people selling actual drugs on chess.com forums??), and low-quality spam (don't get me started on that). And the endless debate on whether OTF or clubs are better (there isn't a single answer btw). So honestly most of it is low-quality, and a great place to go to kill some time not playing chess.

Elijah: Of course, actual communities are wayy better, although finding good ones are really hard sometimes. But overall, I don't regret finding it and it's not all 100% bad. But after being here for quite some time I'd instead recommend getting outside and talking to real life people.

Me: I completely agree. And thanks for saving my comments section. *spits out water* PEOPLE WERE SELLING DRUGS ON THE FORUMS?! *straightens clothing* Um...so...do you own or have a staff position in any clubs?

Elijah: Well, yeah, a few thousand member clubs, although it's nothing too formal. I also had coord in UNC once, and admin in some other multi-thousand member clubs in the past. Don't remember too much about them nor do I care anymore. It's kinda a long story but apparently I was on track to become the next Scemer, Admiral_ChessBeard, or Kyu13, but I intentionally choose not to because it didn't interest me too much, the return on investment was practically zero, and I had higher priorities than that. One of my blog posts explains more about it (not advertising), but basically I came to the realization that all of that effort would be useless other than numbers. And I do like numbers...but at the end of the day numbers are just numbers, as they say. So yeah.

Me: That's a good thing you weren't really interested in becoming the next big club person. I'm not saying the people who are that way don't have a life, but I commend (best word I could think of that didn't sound too awkward) you for choosing life over Chess.com. Now, it'd probably flow better if I had asked you this with the social question, but we're already past that point. *changes order of questions for future reference* Do you prefer clubs or OTF, and why?

Elijah: Clubs, for reasons I already stated, and because it's usually not as restricted as OTF. And usually there's themes or specific reasons the club exists (for example, a club for debating vs a club for talking about openings). But remember at the end of the day that's just me and what I like does not have to apply to everyone else. It's stupid that people still try to argue about what's better.

Me: Yeah. I don't get why y'all have to argue over this. Just...go to OTF if that's what you prefer and clubs if that's what you prefer. If you like both, go to both! *coughs* What would you say is your greatest achievement on Chess.com?

Elijah: Probably finding CHT, although that's not an achievement. So I guess getting 5k views. (although I'm nearly at 10k as of this writing lol)

Me: Maybe those 5k views are from CHT members- But good job because at the moment I only have 7,963 views!

Me: Are there any blogs/clubs/people you would like to shoutout, and if so what/who are they?

Elijah: Maybe so lol. Shoutouts? Sure, I can do that. Thanks to all CHTers, past and present, for helping make CHT the absolute best club ever on Chess.com. @Admiral_ChessBeard, the coolest non-furry you’re ever meet and the best club owner. Ray, you’re the best. DYHAG (Do You Have A Girlfriend?) for all the 😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏 Speaking of dyhag, shoutout to Ben @bjg1000, for accidentally creating the funniest joke ever… FOOSTOOL!!!!! (sorry ben I had to I just had to) @TheAuthorOfChickens herself, for creating this series and interviewing me (even if it took 3 months to do so lol). So shoutout to her and her blog. Hold on, did I just die?! This is not that serious! Oh well. I guess that’s about it.

Me: Well then, thank you for your time! Do you have anything else to say?

Elijah: Sure. Sub to my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Drummer_GD_Elijah

Elijah: View my profile so I can get to 10k faster ig... And lastly...FOOTSTOOL!

Me: Alrighty! Remember to eat food, breathe, sleep, and watch Top Gun. Cya!