Chess.com started in 2005 when two friends — Jay and Erik (that's me!) — decided the world needed a better chess website. We met 10 years earlier in college, where I first became addicted to chess — and Jay was the chess club president. We became friends through our shared passion for the game. There were places to play online, but none of them felt like home. We imagined a place where people could build their chess home online and all in one place: to play in a safe and friendly environment, find friends, save their games, tell their chess stories, share ideas, and learn from each other. Over the next several years, Jay and I poured our life savings, our hearts, and most of our waking hours into building Chess.com. But we never imagined what Chess.com would become!