I love chess; but, my life doesn't revolve around it. I appreciate the simple things in life and in nature. I'm simple, but full of mystery and certain eccentricities. I'm nice; but far from timid...sometimes quiet, sometimes brash and sassy.

My love for chess really began out of curiosity of the game. My grandmother taught me how to play checkers...and she was good at the game. In my mid-teens, I was bored with checkers because it was only limited to half of the board's squares and each piece had the same function. Chess fascinated me because the game utilized the entire board, and each piece had it's own unique function. So, I bought myself a board at toy-r-us...caught a good sale on a great 'full-size' set (not wood however ); but, hey...keep in mind I was a teenager! I proceeded to buy some beginner's chess books at Waldenbooks and thus began my journey into the world of chess.

I learned the mechanics of the game true enough; but, didn't begin to learn the art of the game until I joined Caissa, and actually started playing against some really tough opponents. Then I realized how much more I needed to learn. So, I bought some more books written by Yasser Seirawan. I became a really big fan of his because his concept of the game along with the exercises and tests took the limits off my perception of the game. Once the opportunity arose (and I had a bit more confidence in my abilities) I began to apply my newfound knowledge of chess.

How did I end up at chess.com, well a member of Caissa had posted a blog about other sites to check out when the activity of the site suddenly dwindled to almost nothing...and chess.com was one of those recommended sites. So I visited the site and WOW, I loved the vibrant atmosphere and immediately signed up. I figured, why pay for a membership at Caissa when there's hardly anything going on there. There was so much more going on out here...and still is!

I think the key to living a long and fruitful life is to: 1.) trust in God; 2.) stay positive; 3.) keep a good attitude; and 4.) be determined to have a profound and positive impact on others. This is not easy to do because life is not easy; but, the difficult times only makes one better able to deal with it as we face other obstacles further down the road. Every storm has to end at some point; but we can't be distracted by our situation. To sum it up, my fascination about chess compares a lot to life itself. Both requires short-term and long-term planning. Both require varying degrees of tactics and strategies in order to achieve success in reaching the next plateau.

One of my desires is to teach children this game while at the same time drawing parrellels to everyday living so that they can have a greater sense of focus and know that the sky is the limit if they work hard to apply their knowledge. Wisdom will come along as time goes by.

~The Doctor

DoctorWho