Goal

Educate the public about chess.

Chess Education Foundation Team

Ryan Velez
President & CEO

Ryan is a top 1% player and has achieved the National Master Title. He is a multi-time state champion, has served in various chess roles at the state and national levels, and has helped educate over 10,000 people on how to play chess. Ryan also helps organize chess tournaments in Kentucky.

John Simons
Treasurer & NTD

John is a National Tournament Director, the highest certification. He has worked at over 30 national chess tournaments and has been responsible for pairing thousands of players together at various competitions. John has served as the Kentucky Scholastic Coordinator, is a multi-time state team champion, and has helped teach over 10,000 people how to play chess.

Richard Williams
Secretary

Richard is a senior level tournament director and has had many state level roles to help serve chess, including vice president, treasurer, secretary, and scholastic coordinator. He has worked at various national level chess tournaments and has been coaching for almost a decade. Richard is also an attorney in Kentucky.

Dr Amani Kettaneh
Board Member

Dr Amani Kettaneh is a child psychologist and long time chess parent. She has been a huge supporter of chess over the years and is now giving back by bringing her experience to Chess Education Foundation.

Dr Ranjit Bagga
Board Member

A long time chess parent, Dr Bagga runs a radiology practice in Louisville, KY. Dr Bagga is working on his second decade in supporting chess in the Louisville, KY area. We are very grateful for his experience in helping guide the Chess Education Foundation.

James Peden
Board Member

James Peden is a retired JCPS teacher and a former Louisville Metro Council member. At both the government level all the way down to the individual level, James has been an avid chess supporter for decades. James is helping Chess Education Foundation grow and we are grateful to him.

Eric Yussman
Board Member

Eric worked for LG&E for 17 years analyzing utility planning, operations, legislation, regulation, technology, and economics. He has a masters in Public Policy and a Bachelors in Psychology from U of L. Eric is a huge local supporter of chess and opened the first dedicated chess club in Kentucky since the Louisville Chess Club back in the 1800s.

Rico Bulaclac
Board Member

Rico is a current JCPS teacher. He is also an accomplished chess player and remains one of the most active chess coaches in Louisville, KY. Rico spends a lot of his own time, money, and energy supporting chess in the Louisville, KY area to help give his players as many opportunities as he can.

Miami Fugatte
Head Coach

Miami has been teaching chess since high school in various capacities. He is also a senior level tournament director and has worked at many different national chess tournaments. He is an expert level chess player, which puts him in the top 5% of all chess players. He has served at the state level as president, vice president, secretary, and scholastic coordinator.

Randas Burns
Head Coach

Randas is an expert level chess player, which puts him in the top 5% of all chess players. He is a local level tournament director and has served at the state level as president and secretary. Randas has also served as the president of the state chess association for four terms. Randas has helped teach over 10,000 students in chess and has worked at national tournaments.

Daniel Brennan
Head Coach

Daniel is in the top 10% of all chess players (Class A level player) and is one of our most tenured coaches. He has served at the state level as president and vice president helping grow chess in many ways. Daniel is excellent with kids and does a fantastic job growing each student’s knowledge of the game.

Gary McAdams
Head Coach

Gary is a club level tournament director and long time chess player. He has been coaching for over 15 years. He has headed up many JCPS FRC/FRYSCC programs and received many compliments on his coaching style. Gary has contributed toward the chess education of over 10,000 students.

Steve Russell
Coach & Videographer

Steve is primarily a videographer; however, he has been helping coach chess for the past several years. In his time, he has helped over 500 students learn how to play chess. Steve is also the inventor of a specific kind of 4-player chess and has been an excellent chess coach over the past several years.

Braden Antle
Assistant Coach

Braden attends Trinity High School. He is their top player and is improving everyday. Braden has been the recipient of private lessons from coach Miami Fugatte. Braden is a regular at the Wednesday Night Club and likes to play anyone. He is also a talented Lacrosse player for THS.

John Warth
WNC Assistant Director

John is the assistant director of Wednesday Night Chess. He owns one of the largest chess book collections in the greater metropolitan area of Louisville, Kentucky. John also repairs and refinishes wooden chess sets. He ran the Southern Indiana Chess Club for 11 years before becoming our director.

Carey Burke
Assistant

Carey attends The Brown School and proactively reached out to CEF for an assistant position. This year he will begin helping students learn chess as an assistant. We expect to see Carey at a few schools this year and he might even be a participant in tournaments if he has the willingness and the time.

Aiden Burke
Assistant

Aiden is a talented soccer player who also likes chess. He has experience working with kids and will begin helping them learn chess this year. This is his senior year, so he will only be with CEF for this year; however, we are grateful to be able to work with him and that he is willing to give us the time he has to help educate kids.