I began chess at the age of 11 or 12 years old in my home country Barbados (A Caribbean Island). At this age I was not a competitive player as yet, I was an ordinary kid learning new things. My mother had bought me a chess set which also came with checkers (Draught as we call it in Barbados), but I already knew how to play the game of checkers. So, chess caught my eye to learn the game. I quickly learned the game and practiced playing against myself as the objective was not to win as it would be a lost to your own self but play for a draw. This I continued to play and took it to town to play among the other vendors in the market where my family worked each and every day. I was quite victorious, a kid with no knowledge of the game tactics or strategy, not even knowing of a GM (Grand Master) title was all about.