Bay Area Chess
Our Amazing Team of Coaches

Abel Talamantez - Director of Enrichment
Abel Talamantez joined BayAreaChess in May 2015 as the Director of Enrichment. He previously founded and was Executive Director of Castling Kids Chess Team from 2012-2015 and led that organization until it merged with BAC, bringing all the CK schools and coaches along.
He also serves as coordinator for the BAC teams and is always looking for new ideas to promote the benefits of chess to children.
"Making a living at chess is literally a dream come true and just goes to show the power of self belief and following your passions to the very end. With faith and hard work, good things will happen". He holds a BA degree in political science from the University of California, Berkeley.


GM in Residence

GM Cristian Chirilla
GM Ioan-Cristian Chirila was born in Bucharest, Romania in 1991. He was introduced to chess at the age of five by his father, and by the age of 13, took 9th place at the 2004 Romanian Men’s Chess Championship. As you would expect from such a fast learner, he dominated Romanian junior chess, both individually and in team events. In 2007, he won the World Youth Championship in the U/16 category.
Cristian graduated from the University of Texas at Dallas in 2014 with a BA degree in Political Economy. He attended college on a chess scholarship, and the UTD team won the Pan American Intercollegiate Chess Championship three times (2010, 2011 and 2012). He is currently living in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he is Head Coach of the Bay Area Chess Elite Team and works as an entrepreneur; owning a consulting firm that uses chess to help businesses solve organizational problems, and as a motivational speaker and entertainer to schools and other organizations.
Recent Individual Tournament Results:
1st 2015 US Game/30 Champion
1st 2015 CalChess State Championship Co-Champion
1st 2015 Philadelphia Open
1st 2014 US Class Champion
1st 2014 US G/60 Champion
1st 2013 US Class Championship
1st 2012 78th Annual Southwest Open (6½/7)
1st 2012 University of Texas at Dallas Invitational RR
(7/9; ahead of GMs Onischuk, Yotov, Sadorra and Holt)



IM in Residence

IM Faik Aleskerov
(born in Baku) is an active chess player. He started chess career at a young age (6), winning his first chess tournament among 10 year old school mates when he was just 6 years old. Throughout his career, he has been known for his wild and sharp style in chess. He has participated and won numerous international tournaments. He is the three times winner of the Youth Chess Champion (ahead of  famous GM like Radjabov,Mamedyarov,Gashimov)in Azerbaijan. Recently, he has joined the Texas Tech Chess team and became 2 times National Champion with Texas Tech team He is also the winner of the Pan American chess games 2013(5.5 out 6). Ultimately, he has earned an international master title in chess in 2012.
He has completed his secondary education in 2002 (School #8), and subsequently graduated from University of Languages in Azerbaijan with a bachelor’s degree. In 2011-2014, he graduated from Texas Tech University with Master’s Degree in International Business.
His hobbies include tennis, soccer, and football.
Notable Achievements
• Winner of the 40th People’s Tournament(2014)
• 3rd place in President’s Cup 2014
• Winner of Southwest Collegiate Championship 2014
• Winner of Pan American Chess Championship 2013 (top 3rd board)
• Winner of California Class Championship 2013
• Winner of Metropoliten Chess Invitational 2011 (Los Angeles, USA)
• National US Collegiate Chess Champion 2011,2012(Texas Tech)
• Youth Champion of Azerbaijan (1994, 1996, 1997)
• Bronze of World Youth Championship 1994 (Szeged Hungary)
• Bronze of World Youth Olympiad, 2000 (Azerbaijan Team)
• Winner of Baku International Open 2000 (7/7)
• 5th place in Aeroflot Open in Group C 2004, Moscow
• 1st prize in European Championship under 2400 rated players, 2004 Turkey
• 2nd place in US Master’s Open, US • Spice Open 2nd place, 2010
• National Chess Congress 2010



Senior Lead Coaches

FM Kostya Kavutskiy
Kostya Kavutskiy is a FIDE Master with several years of coaching experience. He is also an accomplished writer, having written articles for Chess Life Magazine, Chess Life Online, and Chess.com. Most recently, his book, Modernized: The Open Sicilian, was published in February 2015. He is the Head Coach of our A-Team where he trains players rated 1600+.









NM Thomas Riccardi
Thomas Riccardi is a national master who grew up in New York.
He has won six-national championships for his age group and has represented the United States on the All-America Team.
He is a recent graduate of Cornell University, where he was president of the university's chess club and captain of the chess team. He recently moved to California where he is an active tournament player and joined BayAreaChess as their lead coach.







Wolfgang Behm












James Bethany
Coach James, previously with CastlingKids Chess, has been a lead instructor for nearly 4 years. He has a unique approach and specializes in preparing beginner and intermediate players for tournament play. Before chess, James was in the board game industry as a developer and also holds titles in strategy games like Risk and even Scrabble. He lives in San Jose with his wife and army of foster children.






Fleford Redoloza aka Coach Ford
When I was 15, I was amazed that a board of squares was a serious game. This 64-square board has been a part of my life: I got my college degrees through chess scholarships; I found some of my lifelong friends through blitz, slow games, and chess players' stories; and I realized that life is chess, except that life is played only once. A blunder is forever. No replay. No rematch.
Besides chess, I'm a big fan of boxing, NBA playoff, grand slam tennis, movies, behaved kids, reformed theology, astronomy, religious and political debates, asian food, dogs, my son and my daughter (and sometimes, my wife).
Back to chess, I think the best chess player ever is Kasparov. Fischer didn't realize his full potential. Carlsen, though, may eclipse the records of Kasparov and Fischer. Finally, chess's full potential is still forthcoming and in this part of the world, BayAreaChess is giving our kids a great opportunity to write their own chess destiny.





Richard Wolfrom aka Coach Rick
I started playing chess at age 5. I have taught chess in the schools for twenty years, and have been involved with chess programs at over 100 schools and rec departments.I have also been involved with auditing new coaches, curricula development, and creating homework for the students. In addition to chess I have coached AYSO soccer, YMCA and NJB basketball.I have also served on the Board of Directors of the Palo Alto Swim Club (now PASA), the Palo Alto Soccer Club (CYSA), and the Eichler Swim and Tennis Club. I have two grown daughters, and a granddaughter.







Coaches


Cameron Sayadi
Cameron joined BayAreaChess in the fall of 2014 and has been a popular and reliable coach ever since. He is very patient with kids, and very diligent with the reward points. He is also a talanted drawer.



Jasmine Kaur
Hi, my name is Jasmine and I'm a beginners coach. I've been teaching chess for about 3 years now, but have been playing since I was a little girl. I take pride in teaching the beginners, because I'm building a foundation for them, so they can move forward and utilize the basic techniques I've taught. The looks on their faces' are priceless when they have mastered the key movement of pieces, it's very rewarding as a coach, to see the progress you have made with the kids.





Chris Martin
Chris has joined BayAreaChess when Castling Kid merged with BayAreaChess. He has been a devoted coach at both our lunch and after school sites.

Valentin Sivryuk aka Coach Val
I am an avid chess enthusiast and coach from San Jose, California, who enjoys teaching and playing chess. I’ve been playing chess since childhood, and it has helped me immensely throughout my life in improving my logical thinking and reasoning skills. I love all things chess-related, and I am excited to teach for Bay Area Chess and to help kids learn this amazing game and improve their skills!



Jason McGann
Jason has joined BayAreaChess when Castling Kid merged with BayAreaChess. He has been a devoted coach at both our lunch and after school sites.




Matt LeForce
As an aspiring schoolteacher from Michigan, Matt LeForce joined Bay Area Chess to help students learn and develop a love for chess while improving his own play. A newcomer in the world of competitive chess, Matt aims to become the best coach, and player, he can be. He also is a huge fan of hockey, cycling, and rock mountaineering.




Bill Ortega
Bill has been with BayAreaChess for many years and has been a devoted coach for our advanced and middle school players.






Rich Willis
Rich Willis started playing chess in the Bobby Fischer era, before the introduction of chess computers, digital chess clocks, and instructional videos.
After Rich graduated from Duke University with an engineering degree, chess took a back seat during the next several decades as Rich married, had a family, and developed his career in technology and finance.
Several years ago, Rich re-engaged with the chess world, once again participating in tournaments and surpassing his previous best rating by reaching the expert level. Rich has found that as he pursues the path to chess mastery, it becomes more interesting and rewarding. Rich is eager to help others pursue this path as well.



Dylan Tabler
Dylan joined BayAreaChess in the Fall of 2015 and becoming a popular coach among the students. He has occasionally been substituting at the weekend clubs as well.



Arek Vartan
I am an Armenian native chess enthusiast and an avid chess player since my early teens. I thank my grandfather for introducing me to the game, he was a strong club player from Yerevan.
I have over 12 years of experience teaching in both school and after school programs. I really enjoy working with kids and my biggest passion is watching students acknowlege their growth by taking pride in their achievments. I love when the strategy, problem solving, and decision making skills we use everyday are enhanced from learning chess. I embrace both the challenges and rewards of teaching young learners.



Aparna Dhatrak
Aparna has been a part of Bay Area Chess since November 2015. She started taking chess lessons at the age of 8 while growing up in her hometown close to Mumbai, India. She has played professionally during her schooling and college days and has even won the national gold medal for chess in India. She currently coaches the beginner and intermediate levels at BAC over the weekends. She is also a finance professional specializing in Finance and taxation. During her free time, she especially enjoys gardening and taking zumba lessons.



Laura Shannon
Laura Shannon was born and raised in Southern California. Her father and grandfather taught her how to play chess when she was four years old and she has been playing ever since. She has been an active volunteer in her community and has years of experience coaching children in a variety of sports and activities. Laura moved up to Northern California to attend Menlo College and she is currently pursuing her bachelor’s degree in business accounting. She plans to go on to law school after graduation.
“I’ve always had a passion for teaching kids. I think it’s incredible to watch them grow more curious every single day. The more they learn, the more they realize how much there is to learn, and I genuinely love serving as a guide for them. Chess is an amazing game that teaches kids how to think fast and strategically. I’m so honored to be able to teach them these skills as they grow up and develop a passion for learning.”



Darmawan Effendi
My name is Darmawan Effendi, I am from Indonesia. I learned chess when I was in 4th grade. At first I watched my father played with my youngest brother. From that time I encouraged myself to practice chess. And I became the number one chess champion in Elementary school I attended. I lead the school to the tournament chess every year. Now I am joining Bay Area chess as a coach. I had 5 years experience coaching Elementary school. My goal for the kids Learn, Focus,Compete and Fun.