David

The founder of the Eugene Chess Club, David is this rare mix of confidence and genuine welcomeness. Both his personality and his game reflect those qualities.

David started the chess club and eventually turned it into an official nonprofit organization in 2022. He first learned chess from his father when he was young. “I had some chess puzzle books. A little chess computer I would take with me on the bus,” David recalls. “Then life happened and I stopped playing. I grew up and moved on.” But with the arrival of COVID and the popularity of The Queen’s Gambit, David found his way back to the game he once enjoyed. “I remembered it was fun. During COVID, I just watched chess YouTube videos and studied anything I could find.” He’s been obsessed ever since.

When David plays, he makes confident, decisive moves. He brings that same confidence to teaching and mentoring others. One unique skill he has is the ability to remember the moves of a game after it’s played. He can reset the board to almost any previous position. It comes in handy when reviewing tactics with both new and experienced players. David is a mentor at heart, and he’s welcoming to anyone who wants to sit down and play.

When asked what he’d like to say to everyone who comes to the chess club, David says, “We often think of Chess as a strategic game, but it be artistic and beautiful as well. Chess is a great game to exercise critical thinking skills you may not use on a daily basis. You don’t have to be smart to play chess, it's more about learning the patterns you need to be successful, which simply comes from practice."

If you’re looking for a place where confidence meets kindness, you’ll find it in a game with David.