He’s been out of the chess scene for more than a year now. I find this extremely odd. Anyone know anything?
Nicholas has chosen to pursue other hobbies in his youth, such as basketball. Another significant factor may be that neither his parents nor younger siblings play chess. Sadly, his former coaches are now poker professionals with little interest in chess.
I have predicted that Nicholas will return to the chess community when he is old enough to attend tournaments on his own, probably around age 13-14. I call this the Steven Zierk effect.
Michael Aigner
Hopefully he doesn’t give it up.
I’m also hoping he didn’t get burned out in his quest to make the top of the ‘youngest master’ list.
The kid didn’t get burned out. The parents, however, definitely did.
His career was Nipped in the bud…
Awesome pun! 
That was surprisingly funny to me?!
Just in the nich of time. 