I aim to become a chess expert (2000+) before I graduate from secondary school.

I was born in Saint Petersburg, Florida but spent most of my life going up and down the East Coast of the United States before secondary school. I started playing chess in the middle of 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic in my last year of junior high. After quarantine, in my first year of high school, I started the chess club to unite more players and spread the game's influence. I've taught several peers how to play, and I'm respected throughout the school for my level of play. I'm also heavily involved with dual enrollment (early college) and the U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC), aiming to become an armed service officer after securing an ROTC scholarship at the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT). Even when pursuing that career, I will have a spot for chess, aiming to become a better player daily. I wish I had discovered the game earlier because I became a lower-tier advanced player with a good grasp of the game's theory in just under a few months. According to my seniors and teachers, I have potential, some of whom I surpassed, but I need practice.

austinwudarsky