Chess

I grew up playing competitive chess for over 10 years. By the time I graduated high school, I was the #1 ranked player in Maryland for my age group, with a USCF rating north of 2000.

I met Magnus Carlsen, five-time world chess champion and the greatest player of our era, in 2014. I had the opportunity to play a blitz game against him, an encounter that ignited my love for the game and pushed me to keep competing seriously in the years that followed.

As fate would have it, I would later end up working for him, teaching at the Silver Knights Chess Academy (then known as the Magnus Chess Academy) throughout high school. I spent my time there working with students across the DMV, teaching at elementary schools and directing scholastic tournaments. At the 2023 National Championships in Baltimore, MD, I was the highest-ranked coach on the team.

I no longer play competitively, but I took immense pride in my OTB opening preparation. With the black pieces, I was a lifelong Caro-Kann fanatic and a Semi-Slav connoisseur. With the white pieces, I was biased to Catalan systems and positional Queen's Gambit lines. I enjoyed playing offbeat lines and novelties, throwing opponents into uncharted waters.