One Move at a Time

This month's guest is Allen Priest, the president of the US Chess Executive Board. We talk about where US Chess has been, where we are going, and take an in-depth look at the just-revised US Chess Values.

Allen Priest has been the US Chess president since 2018 and is the 29th president in our 80 year history. He was first elected to the executive board in 2011. He lives in the Commonwealth of Kentucky where he is a CPA, a field he has worked in since 1982 and which has allowed him to bring his experience in non-profit audit, tax compliance, and benefit plans to US Chess. He first became a US Chess delegate from Kentucky in 2007 and has served on various committees including finance, audit, bylaws, forums, and LMA.

This month's guest is Jim Egerton, who uses chess to help businesses achieve their goals.

Jim Egerton is the CEO and founder of Business on the Board® and the author of the book of the same name which is subtitled, "How the World's Greatest Game Can Build Better Leaders." A respected teacher, coach, manager, leader, and entrepreneur, his speaking has impacted the lives of thousands. His management, information technology, and training experience come from serving in the health care, energy, and finance industries. He does workshops for firms like Amazon, UBS, FedEx, RRDonnelley & Wrigley who want to use a game-based approach to developing the skills their leaders need to be successful. He uses his speaking platform to show people that chess is a powerful tool for developing skills our future leaders will need. He has a degree in mathematics from Northern Illinois University and an MBA degree in finance from Illinois Tech.

Dr. Alexey Root is our guest today on this October edition of "One Move at a Time." She holds the title of WIM and was the 1989 U.S. Women's Champion. Before earning her Ph.D. in education, she taught high school social studies and English and ran the school's chess club. She has written seven books on chess in education; some are available at USCF Sales and all are available on Amazon. She teaches online courses about chess in education for The University of Texas at Dallas and the courses have been taken by students all over the world. She has been a long time writer for Chess Life, Chess Life Kids, and CLO, and she seems naturally drawn to topics that speak directly to our US Chess mission statement. 

David Grimaud is this month's guest. Grimaud has been the President of the South Carolina Chess Association since 2006, the Chair of the US Chess Senior Committee, a member of the Scholastic Council, and a member of the States Committee. Along with his wife Maureen, the couple was awarded the Koltanowski Silver award this year for their support of senior and women’s events. In his non-chess life, David is president of the Automotive repair and maintenance company Precision Tune's largest area developer, Grimaud Enterprises Inc., which oversees 93 stores in 11 states, from Utah to Texas to South Carolina.

This month’s guest, recorded live from the 2019 U.S. Open in Orlando, Florida,  is Dr. Martha Underwood of Arizona, one of only seven women to have earned the National Tournament Director (NTD) title; she is also a FIDE Arbiter (FA). She is the president of the Southern Arizona Chess Association and, of particular interest to this podcast and the main topic of conversation, she is a member of the US Chess Accessibility and Special Circumstances Committee.

This month’s guest is Ranae Bartlett of Alabama, who has developed the Madison City Chess League into an established part of the local school system. She is the Executive director of 501(c)(3) non-profit organization promoting chess education for students in Madison, Alabama and the surrounding area that teaches kids life skills through chess. It was founded in 2013 with 14 children.

Ranae is the President of the Madison School Board, one of the top performing school systems in the State of Alabama.  She has been on the school board since 2011.  Ranae earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Arkansas School of Law where she was a member of the Arkansas Law Review and member of the National Moot Court team.  Upon graduating from law school, she clerked for the Honorable Henry A. Politz, Chief Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.  Ranae graduated with high honors from the University of Central Arkansas, earning a Bachelor of Science degree with a double major in mathematics and political science.

This month's guest is Chris Wainscott of Wisconsin, who has steadily built up an extensive chess resume.

Chris grew up in Midland, Texas, where he learned to play chess at the age of four at the end of the Fischer boom. Chris has written for Chess Life, Chess Life Online, and American Chess Magazine while also posting on his blog ontheroadtochessmaster.com. He wrote the July 2015 cover story in Chess Life about our new golden age of American chess. In the January 2014 issue of Chess Life he wrote about improving as an adult. On CLO, his articles include an obituary of Sevan Muradian, an interview with Alex Velikanov, and a 2015 article about "some player" named Awonder Liang who became our youngest IM to that point.  

Note: Due to a technical issue, the host's voice is poorly recorded. Our guest Emily Allred's recording is good.

This month host Dan Lucas, the Senior Director of Strategic Communication at US Chess, talks to Jamaal Abdul-Alim, who has probably written more "First Moves" department stories in Chess Life than any other single writer. First Moves focuses on short features about people and organizations that are accomplishing things directly related to our mission. Dan and Jamaal discuss chess journalism and they take a trip down memory lane recounting some of Jamaal's articles from the past decade.