our Founders' STORY
Our founding team is proud to be an integral part of the Oregon chess community, both at the scholastic & professional level.
Puddletown Chess founding team is proud to lead as a
registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
CEO
Ishaan Kodarapu
Ishaan Kodarapu is the Co-founder and CEO of Puddletown Chess. Ishaan is a USCF National Master and currently a junior at Jesuit High School.
Ishaan began playing chess in kindergarten and has played chess competitively ever since. He is one of the top players in the state of Oregon. He would like to share his knowledge and experiences with his friends and young students. Ishaan is looking forward to giving back to the community. Outside of chess, he enjoys swimming, tennis, math, video games and music.
President
Neev Kodarapu
Neev Kodarapu is the Co-founder and President of Puddletown Chess. He is currently a freshman at Jesuit High School. He has been playing chess since 1st grade and has played chess competitively ever since. He competed in many tournaments since then, including the OSCF, Chess for Success, National and North American Championships.
Besides chess, Neev enjoys swimming, tennis, math, Robotics and Coding and music
Founding Team Accomplishments
Our founding team average experience is 7+ years playing in scholastic and professional circuit, even though we are all still in Middle school!
Some of our proud accomplishments are below:
Co-Champion-2021 2nd Annual Rockefeller National Tournament of Elementary State Champions
Co-Champion-2019 National Elementary Blitz Tournament (K-3)
Champion-2020 US CHESS/CHESSKID Online Elementary Championship (K-5)
Champion-OSCF State Championship Platinum Sections (multiple times)