Cornwall was born in Las Vegas, Nevada and began playing chess at the age of eight.

CCS provided regular classroom chess training for over a dozen independent schools.

Junior Open Championship winner, became a Master at 13 and was rated number one for his age in the U.S. eight years in a row.

[11] In 1991, the USCF awarded Cornwall a special citation for his efforts in attracting more people to the game of chess.

[11] In 2014, Cornwall began working as a Senior Instructor with Sunil Weeramantry of the National Scholastic Chess Foundation (NSCF) to train-teachers to teach-chess.

His involvement with writing began as a teenager when he served as the editor and contributor to his high school's literary magazine.

In 1984, he became the editor of Checkmate!, the official Florida State Chess Association publication that he created.