Lightning

Hello there, welcome to my profile! Here, I've basically turned my bio into a blog for pretty much nobody to read. Cool, right? I mean, has anyone else done this? Probably not, and I'm sure there's a good reason for that lol...

CHESS COACH

I was named the February 2023 Chess.com Coach Of The Month, which I thought was pretty epic. Thanks, chess.com! To anyone who may be interested in lessons, my hourly rate is $30. Shoot me a message if you're interested, I'm currently accepting new students 😁 

USCF CM 

I am a USCF CM - Which I don't think means a whole lot, personally. There aren't exactly any benefits that come with earning this title. I mean, It's cool that I can call myself a master at the game, but even that isn't super satisfying because USCF CM isn't the title I want. Instead, it is a mere reminder that I'm not where I want to be just yet. But, I'm still working hard to become a National Master. I've been stuck for nearly 2 years... but I've successfully sustained my 2100+ rating, so that's nice! Hopefully, by the end of 2023, you'll see those letters by my name... I'll be NM Lightning on here someday.

CHESS STREAMER 

I am a Chess Streamer twitch - follow for cringe content if you dare... I don't stream a whole lot anymore, but maybe I will get back into it someday. I'm up to 785 followers as of March 2023 and I'm tempted to try to get to 1k...                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Check out this club if you are interested in my streams. That's where I'll have viewers arenas and stream announcements and such. The club is under a bit of construction right now, but I'm working on it.

TOP BLOGGER

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I am a Top Blogger on Chess.com and have been since September 2021. I generally write about my otb tournament adventures, and sometimes I just write about whatever I randomly feel "inspired" to write about. My most viewed blog is a prank blog, because of course it is. I mean, I worked hard on it, but really? My April Fools blog is the one with the most views?

More impressive, perhaps, is my blow that was named the May 2022 Blog Of The Month 😁

For anyone who enjoys reading my blogs - I don't expect to ever quit blogging. That doesn't mean I won't quit someday, but I doubt that day is any time soon. I enjoy writing and thus expect to post at least one blog per month.

BLOGCHAMPS

Speaking of blogging, if you're interested in improving your blogging skills, I think you should join BlogChamps - a club created to help aspiring Top Bloggers on their blogging journey. Oh and there's a fancy schmancy competition, too. Around 10 people have become Top Bloggers after joining BlogChamps. It's a very helpful blogging community. Oh and Season 3 of the competition starts soon.... 

CHESS ACHIEVEMENTS 

As far as my chess-playing career goes.... My best tournament ever was one that I did not win - As a 1900-rated player I faced 5 straight masters in one tournament and somehow still managed to finish with a 4/6 score in the event, my only loss coming in the final round (ah, how foreshadowing of the painful losses to come). I didn't win the event... but it's possible I played my best chess that day, for real. I may write about that some day... 👀                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

I am a 3-time Alabama Highschool Chess Champion (2019, 2021, 2022). Alabama didn't hold the event in 2020... so I like to say I never lost the title of Alabama Highschool State Champion in the years that I was able to compete in the event (: my success in the highschool championships led to me being a 3-time Denker Nominee for Alabama - Truly very proud of and thankful for this. I only ever hoped for one trip to the Denker, I never expected more than that 😅 

UH, HOW ARE YOU STILL HERE?

I mean. There isn't much more to know about me. But ok, here goes nothing... I'm an 18 year old Christian who was homeschooled his whole life and graduated highschool in May 2022. My current chess goal as a player is to become an NM - and long-term I hope to become a full-time chess coach (I talk a little about that here).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Outside of chess, there still isn't much to know about me. My only other hobbies right now are occasionally playing the piano (I'm oddly fond of ragtimes - The Entertainer and Maple Leaf Rag are my favorites to play). Oh, and I'm a major NFL enthusiast (die-hard Carolina Panthers fan) - I own by far the largest NFL Football Fans Club on here, and encourage any NFL fans to join. I am also such a huge NFL fan that I'm actually doing a podcast with @DanielGuel... if you're interested, check out Football For Fun on YouTube 😅                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Sooo yeah, that's my bio. Thanks for reading or skipping to the end. Both take effort. Leave me a note if you actually read the whole thing for some reason lol : )