About Me

G’day, I’m Ashton Vista, a 17-year-old from the dusty heart of Coonamble in central-west New South Wales. If you’ve never heard of it, that’s fair. It’s a tiny outback town where the closest “chess club” is a dusty chessboard at the local pub, and the nearest real tournament is a five-hour drive away in Dubbo. Growing up here, with no clubs, no coaches, and a family scraping by on what we could, chess wasn’t something handed to me on a silver platter. It was my escape, my obsession, and honestly, my lifeline.

I picked up the game at three years old, sitting on my dad’s knee as he showed me the basics from an old wooden set he’d inherited. By five, I was hooked, devouring whatever books I could get my hands on from the library (shoutout to My System by Nimzowitsch and Silman’s Complete Endgame Course). But life threw some serious curveballs. When I was ten, my older brother, who was my biggest chess buddy and the one who kept pushing me, passed away after a long battle with leukemia. It shattered our family. Money was already tight, and suddenly, any dreams of traveling to city tournaments for norms or titles felt impossible. No OTB events, no fancy training camps. Just me, the board, and a whole lot of quiet determination in a house that felt emptier.

That’s when I went all-in online. For years, Lichess was my main battlefield. I started there around 2018, climbing steadily through sheer grind: thousands of games, endless puzzle rushes, tearing apart my losses move by move, and studying classics like Kasparov and Carlsen’s games on repeat. No engines, no shortcuts, just raw effort in the middle of nowhere. By late 2024, I’d hit some serious heights there, but I wanted a fresh challenge. So in early 2025, I created this Chess.com account as my “speed run”, clean slate to push my blitz specifically, focusing on quality over quantity. That’s why it’s only got about 300 games so far: I play fewer, but analyze the hell out of every single one. Long sessions against 2500+ opponents, followed by hours of review. It’s how I’ve climbed to 3000 blitz in under a year, proving that from a farm shed in Coonamble, with nothing but WiFi and willpower, you can still chase the top.

Chess isn’t about where you start; it’s about how bad you want it. If you’re reading this and grinding from your own corner of the world, keep at it. One day, I’ll make it to a real board in a real hall…norms, titles, the lot. Until then, this is my story. Hit me up for a game if you’re game. Let’s make some moves. ♟️

Ashton Vista

Coonamble, NSW

NotVista