Academy Coaches

Lázaro Bruzón is a former World Junior Champion, two-times American Continental champion, two-time Iberoamerican champion and five-time Cuban champion. Bruzón played for Cuba at the Chess Olympiads between 2000 and 2014. For nearly 20 years he was ranked among the top 100 players in the world. 

Born in 1975, started playing chess at the age of six. National U20 Champion in 1991, IM in 1995, GM in 2004, Swedish Champion in 2006. Member of the Swedish national team in several Olympiads and European Team Championships. Winner of several international events, among them the Copa Entel (category IX) in Chile 2005. Author of several chess books, for example a trilogy on strategy which was published by Everyman Chess in 2010-2013 and converted into a Chessable course in 2021. Regular lecturer at the US Chess School. Johan has created several Chessable courses on chess strategy.

Favorite chess opening: The Sicilian Kan 

Ruben Felgaer became a Grandmaster in 2002, and he is the five time champion of Argentina (2001, 2007, 2008, 2010, and 2014). He has played for Argentina in three chess olympiads, and his peak rating is 2624.

Dorsa Derakhshani is an IM and WGM, who has won three gold medals at the Asian Youth Chess Championships, in 2012, 2013, and 2014, played for the Iranian National team in the women's division of the Asian Nations Cup in 2012 and 2014, and she began to play for the United States in 2017 (a decision she wrote about in the New York Times). Dorsa also wrote a book about chess tips and tricks with her brother.

IM Adarsh Tripathi has been playing chess since the age of 7. He just achieved his ambition of getting an IM title this year! His other passion is nurturing and training young talents in chess.  He's also a Chessable author of a course onWorld Champion Ding Liren.

Oladapo Adu is an International Master. He is originally from Nigeria and is now based in Washington DC. He was a National Champion of Nigeria, an 8-time Olympian, and he represented Nigeria at several Chess Olympiads, the 1994 Chess Olympiad in Moscow being his first. His peak Fide rating is 2334 and his peak USCF rating is 2398. He is very passionate about teaching chess and loves to impact the knowledge of his students.

James Canty started playing chess when he was 8 years old as a hobby to bond more with his father. He fell in love with the game and played in tournaments as a kid, even taking his middle school to a few state championships. In 2009, he became a National Master, and he is currently a Fide Master with the goal of becoming an International Master and Grandmaster in the future.

FM Gustavo Cadena learned chess at the age of 7 from his father. He has achieved numerous national and international sporting successes. Among his many achievements, he was the U-17 III Pan-American Chess Champion in 2009, and represented his country in two World Championships. In addition to his chess achievements, Gustavo has a bachelor's degree in English and loves teaching chess to kids.

Amirali Delavari learned to play chess when he was 6 years old. During his career he achieved more than 40 medals, and his favorite is when he became champion in his province when he was only 17 years old. He is studying for a masters of materials engineering.

Epiphany is from Nashville Tennessee. Her parents taught her chess when she was a girl, and she started playing in tournaments when she was six years old. She has won the Japan Women's Championship and the Michigan Women's Championship (3 times). She is also a chess streamer and has been teaching the game for many years. Outside of chess, her favorite activities are hiking and playing the piano. 

NM Sid Schwartz has been playing chess for a long time, dating back to before Bobby Fischer became World Chess Champion. Sid holds an M.A. in Mathematics from York University. He established a chess club during school and obtained University funding to send a team to the Pan American Intercollegiate Chess Championship where they tied for 4th place. He has been teaching chess since 2016. His other hobbies include singing and magic. Sid and his wife have two sons. They live in their Virginia home with their cats’ permission.

Uthra (USCF 2037) started playing chess at a summer chess camp at the age of 6. She was born and raised in Chennai, India and moved to the US in 2016. She fell in love with the game, and went on to earn the WFM title and won a gold medal at the Asian U-17 games. She has a peak FIDE rating of 2114 has been coaching kids for more than 4 years. She holds Bachelor in Engineering and Masters in Business Administration degrees. Uthra lives with her husband and two children in Fortmill, SC and currently the No.1 Women player in South Carolina.

Favorite chess opening: My favorites are Sicilian and English Opening. 

Corno is a National Master in South Africa and has been playing chess since he was three years old. He was the South African u/20 Champion and went to Greece for the World Junior Championship, and he won the African Amateur tournament in Bloemfontein in 2005. He's been coaching in Johannesburg, South Africa for more than 20 years, and he was the coach for the Junior South African team at the World Junior Championships. His biggest joy is that his students still play and enjoy the game till this day!

Will Osborne has been playing chess since he joined his elementary school’s chess club at age 5. After rediscovering a love for the game in college, he started playing in tournaments at every opportunity and has been active in many chess clubs around the US. Will loves chess because of the community, the timelessness of the game, and the fact that we can always improve but never truly master it. When he is not playing or teaching chess, Will enjoys skiing, hiking, and playing guitar.

Luke Everett was taught how to play chess when he was six years old. Learning about pins and forks from an Australian neighbor created an enduring fascination for the game. Unfortunately, "real life" interfered with Luke's chess ambition for decades and he only started playing in tournaments after immigrating to the USA in 1996. Luke joined Silver Knights after seeing how much his daughter enjoyed the after-school programs and tournament training clubs. 

 Laila Faerman (Aka Lily Faerman) is a National Expert and has been teaching chess for 19 years now. She began her tournament playing in Moscow Russia where she was born. Laila has taught kids and adults of all ages. As a child she was the 2nd highest rated girl in her age group (U-14) in the US and represented USA at the Youth World Championship in 1996. Laila also was a high school champion of New York State in 1996. In 1998 Laila finished 3rd in the NYS woman’s championship. She loves working with kids, helping them to develop and manifest their talents. She is also a singer and an ultra runner.

 Wilson Onuoha is a FIDE Licensed Chess Instructor and a Google Certified Educator with an instructional experience that spans over a decade.
He has participated in various tournaments in Kenya, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Rwanda, Germany,  Czech Republic among others. He won the U-2000 section at the 2024 Michigan State Speed Chess Championship. He also finished 1st place at the 2023 Elichess Tournament in Ghana.

With two of her brothers playing chess competitively, Rachelle practically grew up next to a chessboard. She played in her first official tournament at the age of five years old and fell in love with the power that chess has to teach valuable life skills in a dynamic and fun way. Rachelle has represented South Africa, her home country, at several World Youth games and in the Common Wealth, and she played for the South African University Team. She is an admitted attorney, owns her own café, and has been teaching chess (her favorite job!) to students for the last 10 years. 

Bryan Quick began teaching chess many years ago in New York City. In 2015, he was hired to lead the famed Marshall Chess Club as its executive director. In that role he significantly expanded the Club's educational offerings—introducing adult, senior, and a variety of scholastic courses—while overseeing a group of talented coaches. He is a FIDE certified instructor and arbiter. 

Alexander Morton has been playing chess since he was in middle school. Since 2016, Alexander has been working as a 7th grade US History teacher and was recently awarded recognition as Teacher of the Year! Alexander has been teaching chess for a number of years both in-person and online. Alexander continues to grow stronger as a player and as a coach, and he hopes to one day become a chess master within his own right.

James (USCF 1533) learned chess at age 6 has been playing ever since. He loves that chess is a strategy game of perfect information, and that any that any two people can meet and play on even terms. James has been teaching with Silver Knights Chess Academy since 2017.

Favorite non-chess hobby: snowboarding, playing the piano and studying Japanese. 

Emily worked as a touring musician, music journalist, and substitute teacher before joining Silver Knights as a beginner and intermediate coach in September 2021. Her favorite thing about coaching is helping her students learn how to practice good sportsmanship and ways to handle their losses. Outside of class, she spends her time watching Formula 1, writing novels, and studying social sciences.

Kristine Totanes-Wereb learned how to play chess when she was 17 years old. Since then, she has played in several tournaments in her area, taught English as a Second Language to students from all over the world, and served as a behavioral therapist for children with autism. As someone currently pursuing her Master of Science degree in Educational Psychology at the University of Southern Maine, Kristine aspires not only to become a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), but also to use chess to help children with autism improve important life skills, such as social skills, concentration, and critical thinking skills. Kristine lives in Maryland with her husband, son, and two cats.