GMJustin

Last changed: 9/24/24

Dear readers, I have high functioning autism. I've been around the chess world for a very long time but only recently discovered how much I enjoy brief new greetings. My discovery has led to a new practice of proactively greeting young players at tournaments, roughly two or three new greetings per day. I prefer to greet just before playing a game, that way I don't have to worry about a longer conversation. I usually like to say my name, provide context for my greeting in a quick sentence, then say something simple like "good luck" and that's about all I have to do for a meaningful greeting. I can be quite shy and introverted, so this works great for me. Also, I never state my chess strength or International Master title in my greetings, unless they ask me.

As an accomplished chess player with a disability, I've been through many ups and downs including moderate depression. I store my games in ChessBase, have good memory and pattern recognition, but struggle to study at home and probably don't train like other strong players. However, I seem to find positive energy and hope at chess tournaments, by virtue of my new greetings to youth, whose progress I take an interest in. My new approach to brief friendly greetings at chess tournaments has been a kind of narrow path to salvation. It has been heavily or entirely responsible for my improved results in slow chess in 2024, under handicaps. My story explains why I have to go out more, see people... and play, even if I'm not on top of my game. In person tournaments are a privilege. I live an hour and a half away from the world famous Marshall Chess Club located in Greenwich Village, NYC.

With a rising number of young talents I have continued opportunities to give a desired brief new greeting, and keep an eye out for future opportunities to congratulate a given player who I personally greeted. This way I can give a small gift and be in young players' corners, without even teaching. I just care about briefly greeting or congratulating a given person face to face, no longer conversations. Unfortunately due to my condition and difficulty studying in conventional ways, I find it hard to teach much at the moment yet am working around this handicap by giving in other ways to a new generation of rising stars while making positive new connections and taking interest in how they do.

While my story or mission is personal, I think other fellow chess players can take something out of it. Consider the following points: Talking too much to your friends in between games does NOT help your play/focus at the board. However, a brief face to face greeting or two may help you enjoy your time during the tournament and maintain a good mood. If you play "in person", think about giving a brief new greeting (especially to a younger player if possible), in a similar spirit as I described, followed by giving your opponent a traditional brief greeting just before starting the game. Please feel free to share your thoughts or personal experience.

As for my chess, I have as many as 4 GM norms but never made ELO 2500. I've played thousands of games and almost every opening variation at least once. Not the best speed player, but I play things like Titled Tuesday and US Chess Blitz/Rapids to practice and experiment. Thank you for reading this.