coaches

 Joaquin is the Charlottesville Chess Club’s Vice-President and an independent school teacher. He learned how to play chess as a child in school, and at age 9, he began competing in Buenos Aires, Argentina’s scholastic chess tournaments and met former Chess World Champion Anatoly Karpov. Joaquin is an accomplished tournament player and fa

 Joaquin is the Charlottesville Chess Club’s Vice-President and an independent school teacher. He learned how to play chess as a child in school, and at age 9, he began competing in Buenos Aires, Argentina’s scholastic chess tournaments and met former Chess World Champion Anatoly Karpov. Joaquin is an accomplished tournament player and favors a strategic style of play. His specialty is the final phase of the game -the endgame- and Karpov continues to be his favorite player. Joaquin has taught Spanish and chess at Mountaintop Montessori (K-8) and Renaissance School (grade 9-12) in Charlottesville, Virginia since the Fall of 2020 and looks forward to becoming more involved in competing, organizing, and coaching. For any inquiries, please contact Joaquin directly at chesschess@tutanota.com  

International Master from Argentina, Current 2448 FIDE ELO (2502 peak) with 2 Grandmaster norms. Fide Trainer. Ernesto has experience giving private classes to elite students, including GM Tomás Sosa, FM Rafael Miranda, CM Ivan Tomeo, CM Silvio Llorens, FM Agustin Villarreal, and IM Ilan Schnaider. Currently, he is also a coach for the A

International Master from Argentina, Current 2448 FIDE ELO (2502 peak) with 2 Grandmaster norms. Fide Trainer. Ernesto has experience giving private classes to elite students, including GM Tomás Sosa, FM Rafael Miranda, CM Ivan Tomeo, CM Silvio Llorens, FM Agustin Villarreal, and IM Ilan Schnaider. Currently, he is also a coach for the Argentine Chess Federation, and he has delivered the Charlottesville Chess Club’s Monthly Master Lecture Series since 2024. 

Winner of Masters in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, and 5-time Argentine Championship finalist in-a-row (2013-2018). His classes are personalized for each student's needs, their study time, their goals, their availability to play tournaments. For inquires, contact Ernesto directly at ernestorealdeazua@gmail.com

Owen McCoy learned the rules of chess from his parents at age five and has been playing competitively ever since. After moving to Oregon at age nine, he continued studying chess independently, primarily through reading. Some of his favorite books include My System by Aron Nimzowitsch and How to Reassess Your Chess by Jeremy Silman. Owen h

Owen McCoy learned the rules of chess from his parents at age five and has been playing competitively ever since. After moving to Oregon at age nine, he continued studying chess independently, primarily through reading. Some of his favorite books include My System by Aron Nimzowitsch and How to Reassess Your Chess by Jeremy Silman. Owen has won several scholastic state championship titles and has represented Oregon twice at the Dewain Barber Tournament of K–8 State Champions. He became a USCF National Master at age fourteen and, at fifteen, tied for first place in the Oregon State Championship.

Owen is now a student at the University of Virginia, where he completed a B.A. in Economics and will return to pursue a Master’s in Public Policy. He has played for the UVA team in the Collegiate Chess League for the past four years and looks forward to becoming more involved with the Charlottesville Chess Club. Owen has several years of experience offering private and group lessons.

For coaching inquiries, please contact Owen at owenwmccoy@gmail.com.