Episode 131 with Fide Master Sunil Weeramantry, Founder of National Scholastic Chess Foundation

Send us Fan MailIn Episode 131, I converse with Sunil Weeramantary, Founder of National Scholastic Chess Foundation. He originally hails from Sri-Lanka. He is the step-father of US Chess Champion Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura. He won the the New York State State Chess Championship in 1975 and 2001. He has been teaching chess since 1979 when he launched the program at Hunter School, which has more national championships than most schools in the country. Since then, he has founded National Scholastic Chess Foundation in 1990, which has served 60+ schools in New York area and community programs in South Florida as part of Sunrise Chess entity.He also serves as the Co-Chair of the US Chess Scholastic Council. Two of his biggest accolades are winning University of Texas at Dallas' Chess Educator of the Year in 2004 and getting the FM Sunil Weeramantry National Blitz Tournament of State Champions named after him in 2020. We speak about his start to chess in Sri Lanka, the connection between law and chess, the fundamentals of a successful school program, practical thinking, travelling with his step-son Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura, the cancellation of the US Chess Supernationals, online fair play, his book "Great Moves: Learning Chess Through History" and more.