Although I only began working full-time as an editor and journalist in chess in 2010, for over 25 years I have been involved in just about every aspect there is to the royal game, for which I am unapologetically passionate.

In the late 80s, living in France, as a teenager I worked for the famous Parisian chess store, “Librairie St. Germain” (later to become the “Librairie Games”) during my summer vacation, as a salesman, or at the tournaments running a stand. When I went to college in the US, appalled by the lack of chess activity in Madison, Wisconsin at the time, I undertook to give free chess classes to children every Sunday at the local bookstore/coffeehouse. The idea was met with great success, covered by the state newspaper in a feature article, and leading to classes at the local YMCA.

In the 90s I moved to Brazil, where I developed further as a player, winning the Rio de Janeiro Championship, as well as team competitions, winning the State Championship as well as coming in second in in the Brazilian National League. During this period, I achieved a peak rating of 2240 FIDE.  

From 1999-2002, I worked as a software interface designer for the Russian company Convekta (now rebranded ChessOk), where I integrated online playing functionality with advanced database and analysis features for the first time. While unheard at the time of the release of Chess Assistant 6, it has since become a standard feature in online playing programs.

In 2010, after a series of emails and talks with Frederic Friedel, one of the founders of ChessBase, I was brought into the company, now as editor and writer of ChessBase News, which has been my full-time job until the present. I am also a passionate photographer with work appearing in numerous publications. For samples of my work, be sure to visit my Flickr page.