MANASOTA CHESS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Director, Marketing and Business Operations
Bob Bernstein manages the marketing and business operations activities for the Manasota Chess Center. His prior work experience includes executive management positions at various telecommunications companies, during which he directed teams in the areas of Finance, Sales Support, Product Management, Marketing Communications, and Market Research & Analysis.
Jimmy started playing chess while in high school. He has continued to improve his chess skills by competing in US Chess tournaments, analyzing his games, and utilizing various online resources and books.
For Jimmy, chess is both competitive and fun, especially when there's a rival you're evenly matched against. He also enjoys the process of improving at chess by learning more and more about the game.
With his professional experience as a mathematics teacher at Sarasota High School, Jimmy is a natural at coaching chess. In addition to coaching at the Manasota Chess Center, he coaches the chess club at Sarasota High School.
Jimmy is a graduate of the University of Florida, where he earned a bachelor's degree in Sociology.
Job Titles:
- Director, Finance
- Treasurer
Jason Boskey serves as Treasurer of the Manasota Chess Center and manages the financial activities for the Manasota Chess Center. He is a CPA and a Financial Risk Manager with 27 years of accounting and treasury experience in the banking industry, where he has been responsible for the accounting for financial derivatives and investments for most of his career.
At 12 years old, Mark learned to play chess from his older brother. Over the years his interest in the game steadily grew. For Mark, there was no better game than chess. It was a contest of pure skill, with strategy, tactics and elegance.
To improve at chess, Mark read books and regularly competed in tournaments. In high school, he played 1st board on his school's chess team, and led them to the Virginia State Championship. He also played in the National High School Championship, where he was privileged to meet Bobby Fischer. During his college years, he played third board at the University of Virginia (UVa.) and represented the school in regional and national competitions.
Before retiring, Mark was an attorney within the U.S. government. Mark earned two degrees at UVa: Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctorate.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director
- Founder
Nicholas Lewis has a Bachelor of Music Education from Florida State University (FSU). He learned about chess in college and served as president of the FSU Chess Club.
Before working as a product lead for a major tech company, he served as a certified public school teacher and professional violinist in numerous orchestras throughout the United States.
Ryan started playing chess at the age of 14, while a freshman in high school. He is currently a US Chess Class A player (1800+ rating). He is also the winner of the 2023 Florida Collegiate Chess Championship.