One Move at a Time

This month’s guest is the US Chess Development Director, Geoff Isaak, talking about not just his own chess history and impressions of the chess world, but the challenges of creating a Development Department from the ground up.

This month’s guest is collector extraordinaire Jon Crumiller, who is also a recipient of the Special Services award this year from US Chess. He was our September 2013 Chess Life cover subject (photo), he is co-author with GM Lev Alburt of Carlsen vs. Karjakin - World Chess Championship, and has multiple exhibitions at the World Chess Hall of Fame. 

This month’s guest is Christina Schweiss, the Executive Director of the non-profit Hampton Roads Chess Association. The club was named the 2017 US Chess Club of the Year and Schweiss was awarded the 2020 US Chess Scholastic Services Award for an Individual.

This month’s guest is GM Alexander Onischuk, the head coach and program director of the Texas Tech University chess team which just was named the US Chess College of the Year for the second time. Lucas talks to Onischuk about all the characteristics of the TTU program that has made it so successful, as well as about Alex's own chess career that has landed him in the US Chess Hall of Fame.

This month’s guest is FM Robby Adamson, a member of the US Chess scholastic council, a past president and a current board member for the Arizona Chess Federation, and a board member for the Southern Arizona Chess Association. We talk to him about building a scholastic chess team and his own chess history, which includes being the 1988 Denker Tournament of High School Champions co-champion.

This month’s guests represent the Mechanics' Institute Chess Club in San Francisco, California, which is the oldest continuously operating chess club in the United States. Abel Talamantez is the Chess Room Director, a position he has held since 2018, and Judit Sztaray is the General Manager of Youth Outreach and Events, a position she started in last year. Abel has been a US Chess Delegate from Northern California since 2017 and is a current member of the Clubs Committee and a former member of the Outreach committee.  Judit is the current chair of the US Chess Clubs Committee and a member of the Scholastic Council and a former Vice Chair of the Accessibility and Special Circumstances Committee. US Chess named her the 2017 Organizer of the Year and then in 2018 she won the Chess Club of the Year. We discuss operating a club in a time of COVID-19, as well as the aspects of the club's programs during normal times that speak directly to the US Chess mission statement. 

This month’s guest is Fred Wilson. In 2019, Fred Wilson was given the Outstanding Career Achievement Award by US Chess.  IM John Donaldson wrote for our awards ceremony, “Fred Wilson has taught thousands of young players over the decades. He has edited and authored important chess publications, including very inexpensive books for novices, and has generously provided copies of these novice works to chess associations to help bring in new players. He has edited and authored historical works that have preserved and disseminated much lost chess history. His work in preserving rare chess books, and making these accessible to historians, has been of great value in new chess historical research.” He has written or co-written 14 books with Bruce Alberston and was the Chess Journalist of the Year in 2003. He also was recently one of only a handful of people to achieve the Master rating after reaching the age of 70.

This month’s guest is Justin Morrison, the founder and owner of Kid Chess, a metro Atlanta chess teaching company reaching thousands of children, mainly in after school programs. We discuss what it takes to start and run a chess business and also his ideas on attracting the masses to our game.

This month’s guest is Michael Propper, the Director of ChessNYC and President of New York City Chess Services Inc, a non profit focused on expanding the reach and impact of chess as far as possible. We discuss ChessNYC's innovative programs such as their $10,000 Championship Challenge and their prison programs in the Queensboro Correctional Facility and Rikers Island. 

This month’s guest is Dr. Karen Aronian, M.A., Ed.M., Ed.D., who is the principal of Aronian Education Design LLC, a full-service education design firm which creates irresistible environments and content for children and families in private and public venues. We talk about how being a professional educator has informed how she is a chess parent to her two active scholastic players. Dr. Aronian considers all places learning spaces, and the dynamic energy of her work reflects this philosophy. She has worked in the art, design, and education fields for over 30 years, and is an award-winning educator. She is widely considered an expert on education and parenting; her columns on the topic appear regularly in a broad range of newspapers, and her work has been featured in international publications, including Parents Magazine.