our Board DirectorS
Ishaan Kodarapu
Ishaan Kodarapu is the Founder and Co-President of Puddletown Chess. He is currently an 8th grader at Stoller Middle School. Ishaan’s current USCF rating is around 1970 and his FIDE rating is around 1650.
Ishaan began playing chess in kindergarten and has played chess competitively ever since.
Neev Kodarapu
Neev Kodarapu is the Founder and Vice-President of Operations for Puddletown Chess. He is currently a 8th grader at Willamette Valley Academy. 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.
Wilson Gibbins
Wilson has been playing tournament chess for over 50 years. He is a three-time Oregon Senior Champion, a 3-time Minnesota Senior Champion, and a three-time West Virginia High School Champion. He has never played in the Denker Tournament of High School State Champions, but he has played Arnold Denker. He is the current president of the Oregon Chess Federation.
our Board advisors
Carl Haessler
Carl Haessler is a USCF Life Master since 1989 and 5-time Oregon Champion.
Chad Lykins
Chad is President of Oregon Scholastic Chess Federation and Oregon’s Scholastic Coordinator to the United States Chess Federation. He is a USCF Local Tournament Director and club-strength chess player with peak ratings of USCF 1650 and Lichess Rapid 2110. He teaches beginner and intermediate students up to USCF/NWSRS 1200. Chad started chess coaching as a volunteer for Chess for Success at Hayhurst Elementary School in 2016, where all three of his children played on the school’s award-winning chess team. Chad holds a PhD in Educational Leadership and Policy and has published research on out-of-school learning.