I was born in Essex and went to school in Essex and then Hertfordshire. When I started teaching chess I went with my father to a school in Barnet and we decided not to have two Mr Allens, so I took my mothers maiden name of Perez, thinking that teaching chess might not be a long term thing. Well it turns out I enjoyed teaching a lot and decided to stick with it so the name Perez has been with me since: Dominic Allen (Perez)
I began playing chess at the age of 9 having been taught the moves by my father, who is a keen chess player.
I didn’t have the opportunity to play many tournaments when I was younger so I played a lot of sports. I did football, rugby, some boxing and was pretty good at track and field, managing to get school records at 100m, high jump and relay.
When I did play chess tournaments I did pretty well considering my lack of experience. I managed to take first place in the Essex Junior Under-13 championship, ahead of junior England internationals and a British Junior champion.
I left St. Mary’s 6th Form and began teaching chess in London and Hertfordshire, working in many high-achieving schools with many successful juniors.
I reached an ECF Grade of 198. I have been inactive as a chess player over the last few years but intend to start playing again.