Today we’d like to introduce you to Nick Perez
Hi Nick, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My name is Nick Perez, and I’m from Tulsa, Oklahoma. From a young age, I’ve always loved games. Board games, video games, game shows, it could be any game. In fact, some of my favorite childhood memories are from summer afternoons where I’d play checkers or dominos with my grandmother and watch the game show lineup on the USA Network. But it wasn’t until high school that I discovered chess.
I had always wanted to learn but didn’t have anyone to teach me. But once I started, I couldn’t stop. I spent all my free time playing or reading about chess. I found a local chess club in Tulsa and even started playing in official USCF (United States Chess Federation) tournaments. My scholastic chess career culminated with winning the Oklahoma Junior Chess Championship in the year 2000.
But it was never enough for me to just play chess. I always wanted to share the game with as many people as I could. With generous help from teachers and administrators, I founded chess clubs in high school and college. In fact, the chess club I founded at Tulsa Community College won the very first Tulsa Area Chess Team Intercollegiate Championship (TACTIC)! But then, for many years, I put chess on the back burner.
With the Musical Theater degree I had earned, my wife, Christine, and I moved to the Orlando area to work for The Walt Disney Company. And we had an absolute blast using our entertainment backgrounds to make magic for many people over the period of 7 years with the company. But eventually, we decided to move on and form our own podcast network, PowerTeam Studios, where among other shows, we host a completely original trivia game show called The PowerTeam Trivia Podcast. After a lifetime of watching game shows, I finally get to combine my love of entertainment and games by writing and hosting my own trivia games for a worldwide audience!
But in the back of my mind, I always wanted to come back to chess. Looking around the area, I noticed there were no chess meetups in the southern part of Central Florida. I live in Davenport, so if I wanted to play anywhere, I had to drive at least an hour to get there. So, I reached out to the West Osceola Library in Celebration and found a great partner there in their Youth Services Librarian, Sharmel Bhiro. Sharmel and the whole library embraced the idea of letting me run a chess club there. And in August of 2023, the Orlando Chess Association had its first meeting right there in the Multipurpose Room of that very library.
And today, we still have weekly meetings there every Wednesday from 5:30 to 8:30. All ages and skill levels are welcome. Come and go as you please! Even if you don’t know how to play, we will gladly teach you!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Chess is an exercise in humility. That’s what I love about it. You never finish learning. Even World Champions make mistakes. Especially when you first start out, you lose a lot more games than you win. But this is why it’s important to me to build a positive, uplifting chess community in the Orlando area. So that all players of all levels can support each other as they enjoy and grow in the game of chess.
On a personal level, as I said before, I’ve started many chess clubs in my life. Sometimes, a lot of people are interested. Sometimes, it’s harder to get people to show up. But whether I’m putting on programming for a small handful of people or a room of over 100, I’m still excited for the opportunity to share the game with whoever wants to learn.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
One thing I’m very proud of is that we run a free tournament during the last hour of every meeting. Even though it’s not an official tournament, we play it as if it was official. This gives our members a free, no-commitment way to get used to what it’s like playing a real tournament, so they know what to expect when they play one in the future. Afterwards, I calculate everyone’s results, and everyone gets a free internal club rating, so that everyone can know where they stand among the other members and create goals for themselves.
Additionally, I’ve partnered with our friends at the Valencia Chess Club at the Valencia College Winter Park Campus. They have a great club there that meets on Tuesday nights. Once a month, I run a tournament there called ValenciaMania. It’s a free blitz tournament that is officially rated for members of the US Chess Federation. I also run a concurrent tournament that is not nationally rated for those that aren’t ready to start playing official tournaments.
But the thing I’m most proud of is that recently I’ve partnered with several members of the community to form a new non-profit called the Orlando Regional Chess Alliance (ORCA). Just a few months ago, the first event our founding members organized was the First Annual Orlando Chess Open. We gathered 95 of the best players from all over Florida, and they competed valiantly for the right to be called the first ever Orlando Champion. We had over 50 students competing in our Scholastic Section. In the Open Section, National Master Ryan Hamley won the championship trophy. And the best part is that all the proceeds went to support the Boys and Girls Club of Central Florida!
And I’m even more excited for our next project. On March 2, 2025, we will be partnering with the NBA’s Orlando Magic to host the Orlando Magic Chess Championship at the Kia Arena just a few hours before the Magic host the Toronto Raptors! Full details are still in the works, but keep an eye on orcachess.com for details! We are so thrilled that the Magic have taken an interest in the local chess community. And we’re excited to be a part of this historic event!
What was your favorite childhood memory?
Aside from what I’ve already mentioned, one thing that stands out in my mind is that I got to meet Marc Summers when I was a kid. He happened to visit my town and was signing autographs. And I distinctly remember that he was so incredibly warm and friendly to every kid that came up to meet him.
I think any child of the 80s would have been pretty excited to meet the host of Double Dare, but I think it was even bigger for me because while most kids idolized actors or athletes, I was always captivated by game show hosts. Marc Summers, Alex Trebek, Peter Tomarken, Bill Cullen…these were the celebrities that captured my imagination. I continue to marvel at the art form of keeping a crowd entertained, while simultaneously keeping a game moving and enforcing its rules.
And naturally, the skills I’ve learned from these legends have translated to how I live my life. For me, it’s not enough to just know the chess rulebook. If someone participates in one of my events, I want them to have an enjoyable experience. I want them to be set up for success so they can perform their best. I want them to know that they can come to me if they have any issues that I can help them with. And I want them to leave thinking that they experienced a quality, competitive experience.
This is what drives me. This is what motivates me. And I think the kid that made his own home version of the game show Press Your Luck using a chalkboard would be pretty proud of what he’s accomplished since.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://bio.site/orlandochessassociation
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/orlandochessassociation
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OrlandoChessAssociation
- Other: https://powerteamstudios.com
Image Credits
Lilibeth Manuel, Norbert Lou, and Christine Perez
