September 2026 – Puddletown 4th Anniversary Tournament Report

Written by Ishaan Kodarapu

What an incredible way to celebrate four years of Puddletown Chess! Our September tournament was our 4th Anniversary Chess Festival, bringing together 160 players, along with families, coaches, volunteers, friends, and members of our community. This tournament was about much more than the games. Four years after we started Puddletown, we celebrated three major milestones. We revealed them one by one during the tournament breaks and awards ceremony.

Three Major Milestones 🎉

1. More Than $100,000 Given Back to Our Community

This month, Puddletown crossed one of the biggest milestones in our history: more than $100,000 in scholarships, monetary donations, free programs, and in-kind contributions to our community. What started as a small chess organization four years ago has grown into something that has allowed us to use chess as a way to give back far beyond the board.

2. More Than 1,000 Copies of Audacity to Start

Our second milestone was very personal to Neev and me: more than 1,000 copies of our book, Audacity to Start, have now been sold and distributed. To celebrate, we gave away 40 copies during our anniversary tournament, including copies for section winners and additional copies through raffles throughout the day.

3. Eight New Leadership Roles for Puddletown

Our third milestone may be the one I am most excited about personally. We introduced eight formal leadership roles at Puddletown and entrusted them to members of our coaching and volunteer team. Puddletown started with Neev and me four years ago, but it cannot continue growing based around its founders. Seeing coaches who grew with Puddletown now step into leadership roles and take responsibility for training, curriculum, technology, operations, student programs, marketing, and the future of the organization feels like an especially important step in our journey.

A Special Anniversary Celebration ♟️🎂

We wanted our fourth anniversary tournament to feel different from a normal monthly tournament, so we added a few extra surprises throughout the day.

A huge thank-you to [SPONSORS / COMMUNITY PARTNERS] for helping us make the celebration special.

And, as always, thank you to our coaches and volunteers who helped with [SETUP / CHECK-IN / PAIRINGS / FOOD / GAME ANALYSIS / CLEANUP / OTHER]. Events of this size only happen because so many people quietly help behind the scenes.

Most importantly, congratulations to every player who competed, learned something, made a new friend, or simply came back ready to play another game.

Four years ago, we could not have imagined exactly what Puddletown would become. This anniversary gave us a chance not just to look back at what we have accomplished, but also to see the people who are going to take Puddletown forward.

Thank you to every player, parent, coach, volunteer, sponsor, donor, and friend who has been part of these four years.

Here’s to year five!

And now, our September Anniversary Tournament winners! ♟️🏆