The name behind “Chessscape Academy” is me, Ryad… I started playing Chess at the age of 6 years old with my grandfather who thought me the game. I quickly fell in love with it and started playing in competitions at a young age in Nationals and International competitions. I reached candidate master level at the age of 15 years old. I had the chance in my chess career to play amazing world champions like Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik. At the age of 20 years old I took the decision to not pursue Chess on a pro level because it was simply extremely hard to live from my passion back in the days. Only the top 10 players in the world could live comfortably at the time…I went back to my studies, and after getting my “Master” in Finance + an MBA in “Capital Markets” in Paris, I then went onto working in financial markets while still playing chess for the past 20 years not as a professional, but as a mentor and friend to all who loved the game.