I was born in Pune, India, and moved to the U.S. when I was about five years old. I was raised and brought up in Washington State most of my life. I currently am a sophomore at the University of Washington Bothell intending to major in psychology. I started playing chess when I was five years old and participated in many scholastic events and I was eventually the WA State Elementary champion at that time. In the 3rd grade, I placed 2nd place in the K-3 National Championship. I played many more events, slowly improving along the way and eventually becoming an Expert(rating of 2000 or more) when I was 12 years old. I continued to play more and more tournaments eventually receiving the United States Chess Federation title of National Master at 18 years of age. I still am an active chess player and one of my goals is to achieve the title of International Master. I truly love the game and am very passionate about it. Teaching chess to others is very important to me and I love doing it. I get to share my experience and knowledge with someone and teach them about my passion while also learning new aspects of the game along the way. I also wholeheartedly believe that the relationship between a coach and a student should be friendly and encouraging. I wouldn’t be where I am today without my coaches who guided me throughout my chess career. My priority goal for every student is to always have fun with the game, no matter what.