Who is this guy?
Sandy, The Chess Guy is a chess coach in the Idaho Camas Valley area (Kooskia, Kamiah, Orofino, Grangeville, Cottonwood, Nesperce).
He loves to teach kids (and anybody else) chess.
See our facebook page for current posts.
He loves to teach kids (and anybody else) chess.
See our facebook page for current posts.
A brief bio
At age 5 my dad taught me chess with a set he gave me for Christmas and gave me some wonderful chess books which I studied dilligently.
At age 10 I beat my dad!
At age 14 I set up a tournament at my Jr. High School and won.
At age 17 I represented my town in a team Chess event at Berkeley CA.
At age 18 I participated in the CA Jr. Chess Championship in San Francisco and discovered how hard it is to become a master. I also met George Koltanowski in person at a tournament in Silicone Valley. He has been a great inspiration to me.
I left chess till much later when I met Elliot Neff of Chess4Life.com who hired me as a chess coach and taught me his curriculum and how to coach kids in chess. I then taught many students in the Seattle area schools both individually and in classes.
When I moved to Idaho, I began to teach kids chess in various venues and have been running an annual Palouse Valley Chess Tournament and am known as "The Chess Guy". Each fall I promote chess for the annual Christmas tournament in the schools and libraries around the Kooskia-Kamiah-Nezperce-Orofino-Grangeville-Cottonwood areas.
Other interests and experiences:
At age 10 I beat my dad!
At age 14 I set up a tournament at my Jr. High School and won.
At age 17 I represented my town in a team Chess event at Berkeley CA.
At age 18 I participated in the CA Jr. Chess Championship in San Francisco and discovered how hard it is to become a master. I also met George Koltanowski in person at a tournament in Silicone Valley. He has been a great inspiration to me.
I left chess till much later when I met Elliot Neff of Chess4Life.com who hired me as a chess coach and taught me his curriculum and how to coach kids in chess. I then taught many students in the Seattle area schools both individually and in classes.
When I moved to Idaho, I began to teach kids chess in various venues and have been running an annual Palouse Valley Chess Tournament and am known as "The Chess Guy". Each fall I promote chess for the annual Christmas tournament in the schools and libraries around the Kooskia-Kamiah-Nezperce-Orofino-Grangeville-Cottonwood areas.
Other interests and experiences:
- Learned computer programming in High School in Livermore CA at the age of 14.
- Simulated nervous system neuron circuits on the Lawrence Livermore Lab's Octopus computer system.
- Attended the US Navy and became a Nuclear Power Plant operator on board the USS Hawkbill SSN 666 Fast attack nuclear submarine stationed in Hawaii and at the Bremerton Navy Shipyard.
- Entered UC Berkeley and obtained a 3.76 GPA with an EECS degree specializing in Systems Engineering.
- Was hired by Microsoft in 1987 and worked on OS/2, Windows, Windows NT, MSN Messenger and other products for 20 years as a developer.
- Moved to a lovely ranch located in Kooskia ID and retired in 2007.
- I now rent my home out as Lifewater Ranch to share with others my great blessings.
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Our Board of Directors
The purpose of our board is to give credibility to potential corporate donors who have balked in the past at supporting this lone-wolf Chess Guy.
The Chess Guy is still not an LLC or 503(c) or other corporation but is a private group supporting Chess in the Palouse Valley area (Kooskia, Kamiah, Lewiston, Orofino, Peck, Nezperce, Cottonwood, Grangeville - all in North Central Idaho)
Board members have the responsibility to give The Chess Guy feedback on decisions I need to make and annually review The Chess Guy's P&L statements and annual reports. They are available to anyone that may have a question about The Chess Guy or what I really do.
The Chess Guy is still not an LLC or 503(c) or other corporation but is a private group supporting Chess in the Palouse Valley area (Kooskia, Kamiah, Lewiston, Orofino, Peck, Nezperce, Cottonwood, Grangeville - all in North Central Idaho)
Board members have the responsibility to give The Chess Guy feedback on decisions I need to make and annually review The Chess Guy's P&L statements and annual reports. They are available to anyone that may have a question about The Chess Guy or what I really do.
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Elliot Neff
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I met Elliott via another friend way back in about 2005 or so.
Elliott started coaching chess at the age of 12 and has become one of the premiere chess coaches in the US (if not the world). He is now a National Master in chess and has a team of coaches working with him in the greater Seattle area while also licensing tools and support to organizations nationwide. Elliott has a wonderful family and seeks to help all those around him 'Always Improve' and work 'Better Together'. He is also the author of A Pawn's Journey: Transforming Lives One Move at a Time - a novel that incorporates many true life stories of students and his own experiences. You can learn more about Elliott at elliottneff.com as well as at chess4life.com. ceo@chess4life.com |
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David Manley
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I have known David since 1999.
David is a super-dad family man who has 8 kids all doing very well and a lovely and very talented wife, Julie. Julie actually got me into chess coaching locally when she asked if I would teach their family chess. This turned into a class of 31 people in 2011 but unfortunately a job opportunity in the Cayman Islands caused me to have to abandon that class. That experience inspired the Annual Holiday Family Chess Tournaments I have every year near Christmas time. David is currently working at the Orofino Prison as an instructor and brought me on-board to teach chess to the prisoners which has been doing quite well since about November of 2018. David is an amazing asset to have on the board and I am proud to be associated with him. dmanley@idoc.idaho.gov |
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Steve Basaraba
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I have also known Steve since 1999.
Steve was a lead elder in a fellowship I was a member of for many years. He has been a faithful and true friend over the years through good times and bad. Steve was the postmaster in the Kamiah area for many years and is now retired. He enjoys visiting friends in Arizona, being with his lovely wife Connie and visiting his kids and grand-kids in the area. Steve is a perceptive and emotive leader and isn't afraid to tell me when he thinks I am wrong or need to change something. This makes him a valuable asset for The Chess Guy board. sjbcool@yahoo.com |
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