GM Bryan Smith grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, and currently lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Some of his accomplishments include first place in the 2008 National Chess Congress, 2009 National Chess Congress, 2010 Philadelphia International, and 2011 Limpedea Cup. He was a weekly columnist on Chess.com for several years Bryan is the first-ever Grandmaster from Alaska! He also creates many of the lessons Chess.com and its scholastic site, ChessKid.com.