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
President
Zoey Tang
Zoey Tang is the Founder and President of Puddletown Chess. She has the titles of Woman International Master and FIDE Master. Zoey is a two-time Oregon state chess champion (2023 and 2024). As of January 2024, Zoey is the second highest rated girl for her age in the world.
Zoey is excited to teach chess to others who may not have picked it up otherwise. In addition, she looks forward to seeing more competition-level players in Oregon. Besides chess, Zoey also enjoys playing the piano, studying math, playing tennis, and reading.
Co-President
Ishaan Kodarapu
Ishaan Kodarapu is the Founder and Co-President of Puddletown Chess. Ishaan is a USCF expert and is currently a freshman 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.
Co-president
Austin Tang
Austin Tang is the Founder and Co-President for Puddletown Chess. Austin is currently a USCF Candidate Master. He earned the last norm required for Candidate Master in the 2023 Chicago Open.
Austin wants to share his experience with everyone who wants to learn chess. He is excited to teach new players of all ages this beautiful game. When Austin isn’t studying chess, he enjoys doing things like basketball, piano, tennis, and reading.
VP of Operations
Neev Kodarapu
Neev Kodarapu is the Co-founder and Vice-President of Operations for Puddletown Chess. He is currently a 7th grader at Stoller Middle 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