Josh Waitzkin first caught a glimpse of a chess set while 6 years old and walking with his mother in New York City's Washington Square Park. Josh's first teachers were down and out hustlers--street virtuosos who took Josh under their wings and cleaned up their acts when their protégé came to play. The park guys taught Josh their aggressive, intuitive style of competition, which would remain his trademark for years to come. At age 7, Josh began his classical study of the game with his first formal teacher, Bruce Pandolfini.

From age 9 on Josh dominated the US scholastic chess scene. He won the National Primary Championship in 1986, the National Junior High Championship in 1988 while in the fifth grade, and the National Elementary Championship in 1989. At the age of eleven, he drew a game with World Champion Garry Kasparov in a simultaneous exhibition. At age 13, Josh earned the title of National Master.

In 1993 Paramount Pictures released the film Searching for Bobby Fischer, based on the highly acclaimed book of the same title written by Fred Waitzkin, documenting Josh's journey to winning his first National Championship.

In addition to his intense chess life, Josh is also a gifted athlete deeply involved in the study of the martial arts Tai Chi Chuan and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. For five years straight Josh was the Tai Chi Chuan Push Hands Middleweight National Champion in both the Restricted Step and Moving Step divisions, and in 2004, Josh became the Middleweight World Co-Champion in Moving Step Push Hands.

Josh is a renowned writer and teacher in the fields of learning and performance psychology. Josh's love for children and his deep belief in the positive effect of chess study on young minds led him to become the foremost ambassador for chess in America. Josh recently completed his much-anticipated second book, The Art of Learning. The book is an autobiographical discussion of the learning process and performance psychology, drawing from Josh's experiences in both chess and the martial arts.