Daily Inspiration: Meet Naguib

Today we’d like to introduce you to Naguib.

Hi Naguib, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started playing chess back in elementary school. My parents taught me how the pieces moved, but I didn’t start playing consistently until I joined the LINC chess club. From there, I had good teachers who taught me the basics and sparked my interest in taking it somewhat seriously. I started enjoying the game so much that I even made it a bucket list item to become a chess master.

The LINC program hosted scholastic chess tournaments several times a year, and my brother and I would always go out. Eventually, we both started placing higher and higher, and by middle school, we picked up a couple of first and second-place finishes.

I would continue to intermidtely play in tournaments throughout middle school but would start to be less involved in chess due to my growing love for sports and music.

By 9th grade, I stopped playing completely and would abandon the game altogether until 2023. I graduated from college in May of 2023, moved to St. Louis to pursue soccer dreams, and when that didn’t work out, I moved back to Kansas City and had a lot of time on my hands. I became the head coach for Ruskin High School, and due to the extended amount of time between gameday arrivals and kickoff, I would bring stuff like books and games for the kids and me to pass the time. One day I brought a chessboard and it seemed to be a hit with the team, so I continued to bring it almost every day.

Playing again sparked my interest in chess and led me to take it seriously this time, and pursue my original bucket list item of reaching master status. As I continued to play more and more, I would continue to watch chess videos to improve, and even had people very close to me start asking how to play or for lessons. When my girlfriend was asking me to explain some concepts to her, she had the great idea to record my gameplay and explain my moves so that she could watch it back later. (Our schedules didn’t align for dedicated chess time.) And this is how the channel started.

The “road to 2000” series was born, and I recorded every single Rapid game (10 min or longer) that I played to not only help her understand my thinking but also to document my journey. (It also allowed me to practice some skills because I was a marketing major)

The first year I saw very minimal growth as I was figuring things out and still trying to get over my fear of being on camera, but after the push from a few of my teammates, family, and friends I started to put more effort into the videos and take the time and energy to dedicate a few videos to purely educational content.

Things have started popping off recently and I’m hoping to continue to improve myself so that I can provide better help to the people who watch my videos.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Surprisingly, it has been relatively smooth. I have done A LOT of hard things with my life, so creating content on a subject I love was kind of a relief. I started my own lawn care business during the pandemic and somehow juggled that throughout my college career (while also playing and being a full-time student), so I learned a few tips and tricks to manage my time.

On top of this, I have experience growing a brand (I had a soccer page that averaged a reach of 2 million a month from 2019-2022), so nothing was necessarily new or difficult in comparison.

The one hiccup I did face, though, was being on camera. I have a lisp and stutter when I speak in public, and the idea of talking to a camera and people watching it brings it back out sometimes. Which makes no sense because I’m completely comfortable playing sports or music in front of large crowds.

It was probably the hardest thing I had to get over, but honestly, I just did it so many times it eventually seemed irrational to let it keep bothering me as much as it used to.(though it still is a challenge sometimes).

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m known for doing a little bit of everything, so it is kind of difficult to answer this one. I think the most popular thing I’m known for right now would either be my chess or soccer presence. I used to have some really cool jobs in the soccer world (Worked for the MLS VAR & recently worked for Sporting KC), and this has carried over into coaching, where I am still the head coach of Ruskin as well as a goalkeeper coach at the club level.

My specialty, however, would likely be marketing. I fell in love with the whole industry when I started my business, and I find it very interesting to learn what makes people do the things they do. (It’s like psychology with less intense school) Being able to take a brand and grow it is a very good feeling, and I think it is something I have had success doing.

However, I think the area I am most proud of would 100% be my presence in the Hickman Mills School District. Both of my parents were extremely involved throughout my time as a student, and I’m very glad to help carry that on and be a resource for the students.

I think what sets me apart from others is my willingness to do new things. Any industry you can think of, I have probably been a part of to some degree, and I have no issue trying new activities. Whether it’s a new sport or a new skill. I have no issue taking on the challenge, I will happily work hard until I feel like I am proficient at it.

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
My favorite childhood memory would be playing sports with my little brother. He is genuinely a freak of nature and has always been the more skilled player in literally every sport we played (soccer, basketball, football, etc.) So I was forced to get better and adapt to compete with him.

We would go at it almost every day in our driveway playing 1v1 to insane scores like 200 points (only 1’s & 2’s) and those were genuinely fun times. We both are fierce competitors, so some games would get chippy but it was always a fun time playing with him (and still is).

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chesswithgibby/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@chesswithGibby