One Move at a Time

EP#28: Mark Taylor

This month’s guest is is Dr. Mark Taylor talking about chess fiction and narrative--we thought this would be a fun time to have this discussion as The Queen's Gambit continues to be popular on Netflix, and of course it was based on Walter Tevis' 1984 novel. 

Taylor is an Associate Professor of English at Berry College in Rome, Georgia. He is currently at work on Chess and Chessic Motifs in English Prose Narrative Since 1700: An Annotated Bibliography, a comprehensive work featuring approximately 2000 entries. Berry earned his PhD in English Literature in 1995 at the University of Texas at Austin. He teaches freshman writing and medieval and renaissance literature. He published over 200 articles in various chess periodicals between 2002 and 2015, including  the December 2012 Chess Life cover story “The White Collection: Exploring the largest chess library in the world.” awarded the “Best Feature Article” by Chess Journalists of America. He has been editor of Georgia Chess and The Chess Journalist. His son Paul Taylor was an accomplished scholastic player who reached an expert rating, and his wife Melinda is our Publications Editor at US Chess.

EP#27: John D. Rockefeller V

Welcome to the December 2020 edition of “One Move at a Time,” the US Chess podcast in which Dan Lucas, the Senior Director of Strategic Communication, talks to people who are advancing the US Chess mission statement to “Empower people, enrich lives, and enhance communities through chess.”

This month’s guest is is John Davison Rockefeller V, who is the catalyst for our December 2020 Chess Life cover story announcing his $3 million gift to US Chess. He is a chess dad, Scholastic Director of the Maryland Chess Association, and active volunteer helping US Chess, especially as chair of the Development Committee and vice-chair of the Scholastic Council. His father is John Davison “Jay” Rockefeller IV, a governor of and U.S. senator from West Virginia who was instrumental in the creation of National Chess Day.

EP #26: Tim Just

This month’s guest is Tim Just, a National Tournament Director and a FIDE  National Arbiter and editor of the US Chess Rule Book since the 5^th edition (we’re on the 7^th edition now). He is the co-author of My Opponent Is Eating a Doughnut (with Wayne Clark) and Just Law: Common-sense answers to frequently asked questions on chess rules, regulations, and policy from players, tournament directors, and organizers. He is the longtime chair of the Tournament Director Certification Committee, current TDCC member, and a longtime Rules Committee member. His byline has appeared on the TD Corner column in Chess Life plus on the Rulebook Tactics column in the Illinois Chess Bulletin, and he has a monthly column on Chess Life Online titled, “Just the Rules.” He facilitates both rules and tournament director workshops. He has performed countless stints as a staff member or chief TD at national, state, and local scholastic and adult tournaments. He is a longtime US Chess Delegate and recipient of the US Chess Outstanding Career Achievement, US Chess Tournament Director of the Year, and US Chess Committee of the Year awards.

EP #25: Geoff Issak

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.

EP #24: Jon Crumiller

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. 

EP #23: Christina Schweiss

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.

EP #22: GM Alexander Onischuk

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.

EP #21: FM Robby Adamson

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.

EP #20: Abel Talamantez and Dr. Judit Sztaray

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. 

EP #19: Fred Wilson

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.