Hi — I’m WeirdAmerican, and here’s my chess story.

I discovered chess during a really tough time in my life, and it quickly became something I could focus on and improve at. At first, I barely knew how the pieces moved, but I slowly learned the opening principles and started to really enjoy the game.

When I got home, I made a chess.com account and decided to take chess seriously. I found GothamChess (Levy Rozman) on YouTube and started learning with Chessly. The first opening I really studied was the Scotch Game, and it helped me climb to 879 in a month.

Then I picked up the Caro-Kann as Black and kept improving — soon I was over 1050. After that, I wanted something more aggressive, so I learned the Vienna Game (and the Vienna Gambit!), which helped me reach 1239 in another month.

Now I’m around 1606 in Blitz and 1607 in Rapid, with a Rapid peak of 1628. I’m still learning every day, trying to play cleaner games, convert advantages, and enjoy the grind. Chess has become one of my favorite things, and I love seeing progress over time.

I wanna give shoutouts to…
@WeirdGerman Someone who has pushed me to get better on and off the chess.com website and is just a friendly guy in general. Also brought me back from a dark place by recommending me to Coach chess.
@QueenSlider Though not very active is a friendly person and I am an SA in her club Queen Sacrificers. It is a very active club and we are always looking for new members to join. (Trolls will be banned)