Staten Island Instrutor Shavanthi Navarathna has been playing and teaching chess in Sri Lanka, the native country of our 131st Podcast Guest FIDE Master Sunil Weeramantary, for 10+ years and has recently moved to Staten Island, New York. In addition to chess, she has a long career in accounting and human resources management. We are lucky …
Philadelphia Instructor Jeremy Smolen came to us a referral from his Temple University teammate Jeffrey Kunnell. His team won the “C” Divison of the Collegiate Chess League. Jeremy has taught chess to students aged 5-20+. He runs a program the Bala Cynwyd Library. In addition to chess, Jeremy loves video games, basketball, and yo-yoing.
Philadelphia Instructor Julius Hernadi has a Bachelor of Arts from St Joseph’s University in Biology and Chemistry. He has 20+ years of teaching experience, teaching 8th Grade General science and chess. He is also a licensed insurance broker in Pennsylvania. He ran a Chess Club at the Lansdowne Library on Saturday mornings for 20 years. …
Long Island Manager David Green has been teaching chess to students of all ages and skill levels for over 10 years. David has an extensive 25+ year legal and business career, in which he has focused on in real estate, debt challenges and business creation. Furthermore, he is the former owner of FasTracKids/JEI Learning Center …
Long Island Instructor National Expert Xilin Chen grew up in Brooklyn and has been playing tournaments since 2017 when he won first place in the 2017 Chess in the Schools Mark Levine Challenge JH-HS Novice section. Xilin’s playing career highlights include winning first place in the 14th Annual Foxwoods Open U-2000 section, tying for first …
New York Instructor developed his passion for chess as part of the Heichal Hatorah team in Teaneck, New Jersey and took private lessons with Premier Chess CEO National Master Evan Rabin. Since then, he has played in several rated tournaments and has a peak rating of 1607. Uli is currently a member of Yeshiva University Chess …
New Jersey Instructor National Expert Titoluwanimi Rapheal has been teaching chess for almost 10 years in his native country Nigeria, where our 43d Podcast Guest National Master Kola Adayemi grew up. He is rated 1892 FIDE. Some of his playing highlights include winning second place in the U-2100 section at the 2023 New State Chess …
Assistant Philadelphia Instructor Shodibek Pulatov is an entrepreneurial high school student, who co-founded Pulatov Brother’s Empowerment Inc. with his older brother Shakhrizod Pulatov. He is a senior at Lower Moreland Township High School. He placed 5th with the school’s Chess Team at Pennsylvania State Chess Tournament.
Philadelphia Instructor Shakhrizod Pulatov hails from Uzbekistan, where chess is widespread. He has had multiple First-Place Finishes in Regional and City-Wide Tournaments in Uzbekistan and placed 5th with the Lower Moreland High School Chess Team at Pennsylvania State Chess Tournament. On May 14, 2022, he tied for first place in the Council Rock South Scholastic Tournament. …
Westchester/Southern Connecticut instructor Eraldo Gjoni is a great player and teacher, who hails from Albania. In 2018, Eraldo won clear first place in the Brooklyn Classical Championship U-1600 section. National Master Evan Rabin happened to win first place in the U-2200 section of the same event. We are lucky to have him on board to teach school …
