One Move at a Time

EP #11: Dr. Martha Underwood

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.

EP #10: Ranae Bartlett

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.

EP #9: Chris Wainscott

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.  

EP #8: Seth Talyansky and Avi Gupta

This month host Dan Lucas, the Senior Director of Strategic Communication at US Chess, talks to high school students at the Catlin Gabel School in Portland, Oregon Seth Talyansky (18) and Avi Gupta (17) about how they are leveraging their state championship team's success to promote chess and support underserved communities.  For example, the club hand-delivered chess sets to children in Chajul, Guatemala; donated chess clocks to a chess club in Ohrid, Macedonia; organized an online match with a high school chess club in Jackson, Mississippi; and traveled to Equatorial Guinea in western Africa to organize that nation’s first open chess tournament. 

 

Talyansky  is a US Chess National Master who has been the number-one ranked player in high school in Oregon since 2016 and was just named a U.S. Presidential Scholar.  Gupta is the two-time Utah state champion in his age group and currently ranked number five in Oregon. He will be appearing on Teen Jeopardy the week of June 17. 

EP #7: Emily Allred

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 Emily Allred, the Associate Curator at the World Chess Hall of Fame. She has worked at the museum since 2013 and has curated or co-curated 14 exhibitions, including Jacqueline Piatigorsky: Patron, Player, Pioneer (2013);  Living Like Kings: The Unexpected Collision of Chess and Hip Hop (2014); Battle on the Board: Chess during World War II (2015); Her Turn: Revolutionary Women of Chess (2016); and Global Moves: Americans in Chess Olympiads.   This episode focuses on the current exhibition she curated that celebrates our 80th anniversary year: US Chess: 80 Years—Promoting the Royal Game in America. 

EP #6: Jamaal Abdul-Alim

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. 

EP #5: David MacEnulty

This month host Dan Lucas, the Senior Director of Strategic Communication at US Chess, talks David MacEnulty, who was the first teacher to teach chess in New York City as part of the curriculum. MacEnulty has been teaching chess to adults and children for more than 25 years and has been one of the most impactful scholastic chess coaches in the USA over that period. He currently teaches chess at The Dalton School. He won the prestigious Chess Educator of the Year award from the University of Texas at Dallas in 2007, was honored with the career achievement and Scholastic Service awards by US Chess, and he received the Lives That Make a Difference award from A & E Television.

EP #4: Jay Stallings

This month host Dan Lucas, the Senior Director of Strategic Communication at US Chess, talks to Jay Stallings,who has taught over 40,000 kids to play chess at his California Youth Chess League since 1994. The league is a California 501(c)3 Non-Profit Organization that has a mission, similar to the US Chess mission, of empowering youth to grow through chess. This month he is celebrating 25 years as a chess coach.

An expert-rated player himself, he has authored several books, including Fried Liver and Burning Pants: Curious, But True Chess Stories and The Lessons We Learn From Them! Last year, he introduced Coach Jay's Chess Academy! >, a complete curriculum which can be found at coachjayschessacademy.com. He is a member of the US Chess Scholastic and Development Committees.

EP #3: Isaac Steincamp

This month host Dan Lucas, the Senior Director of Strategic Communication at US Chess, talks to Isaac Steincamp, the founder of chesssummit.com, a website where Isaac and a team of writers that are “a mixture of chess players, instructors, and advocates from all over the United States, working on every aspect of the Chess Summit mission – sharing instructional material, personal experiences and goals, and news on ongoing chess programs around the world for free!” Isaac is also  a fourth-year student at the University of Pittsburgh, the Pitt chess team captain, manager of the Pittsburgh Pawngrabbers in the PRO Chess League, and a streamer for chess.com. 

EP #2: Robin Ramson

This month host Dan Lucas, the Senior Director of Strategic Communication at US Chess, talks to Robin Ramson, the founder of Chess Girls DC, https://chessgirlsdc.org/, a Washington, D.C. organization with a mission "to build the confidence of Girls using Chess as a tool." CLO recently featured Robin in "Mid-Atlantic Girls Regional a Big Success: 'When is the Next Chess Tournament.'"