Today’s guest on Cover Stories is the author of our July cover story on the 2022 National High School Championship, which was held in Memphis in April. He is also the author of a series on the Tarrasch defense that will wrap in our August issue, and he has written quite a few pieces for US Chess publications in these past few years. Newly minted FM Alex King is a teacher, player, and father, currently residing in Memphis, TN with his wife and daughter. He comes from a very talented family, with musicians and artists of multiple stripes, including his sister, Caroline, who was the photographer at the 2022 National High School and whose photo graces the cover of the issue. Alex is a skilled pianist, and he often posts videos of his original compositions to his social media accounts. I’m speaking to Alex today after having the toughest time scheduling this interview. He was on vacation, then I was on vacation, and then we both had conflicts. But now we’ve clear the time to get to talk, and I expect to learn a lot about Alex in the time we have.