I Quit My Job to Study Chess for 7 Months and Beat a National Master

The lessons learned from 57 tournament rated games, 200+ hours of deliberate practice, and finding out who I really am in the process.

Playing against 2150 rated chess hustler in Washington Square Park

I had everything going for me in the summer of 2018.

I was on track to hit $100,000 in business for the first time ever as a digital marketing consultant, the largest amount of money I had ever made as a young professional. I had just signed a contract to work with a New York Times bestselling author, someone that I’ve dreamed about collaborating with ever since I dropped out of college at 18. I was living the “digital nomad” life working remotely and adventuring around South Africa, Mexico, Thailand, and more places.

But on August 11, 2018, I quit everything, moved back home to San Francisco with no stable income, and devoted the next chapter of my life to chess.

There is a famous story of a messager traveling to meet King Charles I with dire news: their allies betrayed them and their army is on the verge of losing the war. But the king doesn’t even glance up from…