JUNE 1ST Ya know. Life really does come at ya fast. Things sure can change in a hurry. Not long ago, I would have told you I am at my very best in chess, stronger than ever. You see. In April I reached a new peak rating. In May, I did it aga...
Hello there, welcome to the Lightning Reports! Recently, I had the opportunity (and by opportunity, I mean I paid a buncha money to fly across the country to move plastic figurines around a checkered board... go me!) to compete in the 2024 World O...
Hello there, welcome to the Lightning Reports! Surprise, surprise, I got to play otb chess again. Last weekend there was a local tournament on the schedule, and when I saw the list of pre-registered players, featuring a GM, two NMs, two 2100s, and...
Hello there, welcome to the Lightning Reports! Y'all know how it is... if I play otb chess, y'all get a blog. That's the deal. Indeed I did receive the opportunity recently to play in an amazing and fierce event in which the average rating of all ...
Why hello there, welcome to the Lightning Reports! Wow, it has been a minute, hasn't it? I'm not even sure if y'all remember me and my quirky blogs. Am I a has-been in the blogging world now? Apologies to the people who enjoy my blogs for ...
That hurts. That really hurts. It wasn't so much the fact that I lost, but the fact that I was thoroughly embarrassed, with the state championship on the line. The game barely lasted an hour! I made one dumb move and my position was falling apar...
Hello there, welcome to the Lightning Reports! It's been a minute since you last heard from me. Now, as some of you following my journey know, I am doing my best to avoid playing in local Alabama tournaments, cause they aren't ideal for me. I eith...
Hello there, welcome to the Lightning Reports! So... an interesting topic today. Some of you may know this already, but I'm a huge NFL fan. I'm basically obsessed by now. I mean, I'm a chess master, and I'd rather watch football than chess. Easily...
*Technically posted just before April ended for me, so I still met my one post per month goal....* Yeah sorry, I just remembered I was supposed to finish this before the month ended, so this is very rushed... Hello there, welcome to the Lightn...
Hello there, welcome to the Lightning Reports! Surprise, surprise, I’m posting a blog several weeks sooner than expected. I sincerely apologize for being early. Shame on me. I should do better next time. Anyway, today I’m going to show...
Hello there, welcome to the Lightning Reports! Ask and you will receive... I've had a surprising number of people persistently reminding me that I owe y'all another Questioning Non-Chess Players About Chess blog. Basically I asked 3 people (with t...
Hello there, welcome to the Lightning Reports! 3 weeks ago I played in the 2023 Queen of Hearts tournament hoping to compete against some of Alabama's strongest players. Wait, 3 weeks ago? Why am I just now posting this, you wonder? Uh. I have a t...
Hello there, welcome to the Lightning Reports! Last week I played in the 2023 Charlotte Open to compete against much stronger players and attempt to steal their rating points. Going into the event I am rated 2127 USCF, and I have been stuck for ab...
Hello there. Welcome to the Lightning Reports! Last weekend, on December 17th, I competed in a local otb tournament. I wasn't going to at first, but then I was told an NM would be there, so I figured I'd play as well to try to beat the NM. Yes, I ...
Hello there, welcome to the Lightning Reports! It’s been a hot minute since you’ve heard from me. For most of this year, I’ve posted twice a month, but it has now been over a month since my last post. And my last post was the onl...
Hello there, welcome to the Lightning Reports! Today I’ll be doing an opinion blog, which is exactly what it sounds like. Now, I know what you’re thinking. “Oh no, Lightning is giving his opinion on something? That's a terrible i...
Hello there, welcome to the Lightning Reports! Way back in January, I introduced a new blog idea when I questioned several non-chess players about chess for the first time. 4 months later, I did it again. And now, given how many people have asked ...
Hello there, welcome to the Lightning Reports! Surprise, surprise, I played otb again, nearly 2 weeks ago. It was Alabama's state championship, and I really wanted to win. "This is my year" is what I told myself. And I believed it. I thought I had...
Hello there. Welcome to the Lightning Reports! Today I will recap my experience at the 2022 US Open. I honestly played in this because I was already in California for the Denker, which I talked about in my previous blog, so I figured I might as we...
Hello there. Welcome to the Lightning reports! Today I will recap my experience at the 2022 Denker Tournament or Highschool Champions. If you don't know what the Denker is, it is essentially the national highschool chess championship, but why call...
Hello there. Welcome to the Lightning reports! This post is my latest update on my journey to NM, which will cover 2 tournaments, 8 games, and 6 French Defenses. Good stuff, right? Right. If that sounds good to you, read on. JULY 16TH -DAY OF ...
Hello there. Welcome to the Lightning Reports! Today I’ll be reviewing the 2022 Fide Candidates tournament as I look at how each individual player fared in the event and see how far off my predictions were. As a reminder, I predicted that ...
Hello there. Welcome to the Lightning Reports! Today we return to my Journey to NM series. Having failed my initial goal of becoming a National Master by May 21st, I am now aiming to get the NM title by the end of 2022, which is a much more reason...
Hello there. Welcome to the Lightning Reports! Today I'll be previewing the upcoming 2022 FIDE Candidates Tournament and giving you my take on it. Why am I doing this? Because why not. The event starts in a few weeks, I believe on June 17th, so it...
Hello there. Welcome to the Lightning Reports! Today we return to my Journey to NM series. If you are new here, or if you have forgotten, I have set a goal for myself to become a National Master before I graduate highschool on May 21st. If you've ...
