Leadership Team
Who We Are
Eliza Eggert
President
Eliza Eggert is the President of the Orlando Regional Chess Alliance, where she focuses on organizing and growing the chess community in Orlando. While her days are spent as a Data Engineer for PlayStation, her passion lies in the strategic world of chess.
Eliza discovered her love for the game a little later in life than average, joining the San Diego Chess Club in her thirties. Driven to give back to the community that welcomed her, she became a tournament director within a few years and even hosted a charity chess tournament to benefit Jeans 4 Justice, a non-profit social change organization dedicated to creating healthy communities free from sexual violence.
A strong advocate for inclusivity in chess, Eliza is particularly passionate about encouraging more girls and women to experience the joys and challenges of the game. She has recently trained as an advocate for the Women in Chess Foundation and is eager to do more to expand chess participation.
These days, you’re more likely to find her organizing events and fostering the Orlando chess scene than competing at the board, dedicating her efforts to building a vibrant and thriving chess community.
She can be reached at eliza@orcachess.com.
Nick Perez
Executive Director
Nick Perez is proud to serve as the Executive Director of the Orlando Regional Chess Alliance. A USCF member since 1997, Nick has enjoyed a lifelong relationship with the Royal Game. In his early years, he worked his way up the ranks of the Oklahoma chess scene, eventually winning the Oklahoma Junior Chess Championship. But Nick has always felt that spreading the game to others was just as important (if not more so) as his own wins and losses.
Nick founded chess clubs in both high school and college. And now in Central Florida, he founded the Orlando Chess Association in 2023, which meets every Wednesday night at the West Osceola Library in Celebration. It’s important to Nick to help the next generation grow and learn in the game, just as his mentors helped him when he was younger.
In addition to chess, Nick loves entertaining and hosting events. Using his Musical Theater Degree, he dazzled audiences at Walt Disney World for many years and now owns an online production company with his wife, Christine. PowerTeam Studios is their one stop mom-and-pop shop for podcasts and web series. In this endeavor, Nick is most proud of The PowerTeam Trivia Podcast where he writes all his own trivia questions and hosts a thrilling game show for a worldwide audience.
This love of entertainment translates to hosting chess events. It’s important to Nick that anyone who plays one of his tournaments has the best experience possible and feels set up for success to play the best chess they can. Nick is excited for all of the future opportunities to bring chess to more and more people with ORCA. And he looks forward to meeting you at an ORCA event very soon!
He can be reached at nick@orcachess.com.
Fernando Gutierrez
Vice President / Director
Fernando Gutierrez is delighted to serve as Director and Co-founder of the Orlando Regional Chess Alliance alongside motivated individuals to spread chess awareness in Central Florida. In 2017, he earned a bachelor’s degree in information technology from the University of Central Florida before graduating from Western Governors University in 2022 with a Master of Business Administration in Information Technology Management.
Many of Fernando’s proudest moments at Valencia College involve chess, including registering VC as a Chess College Ambassador with Chess.com, the world’s largest online chess platform. With this program, Fernando explains, “Students can represent us in online chess activities, and we also receive chess merchandise, which I distribute to students and the community.” Fernando continues, “I’m also the founder of the Chess Night Community outreach program, where I have partnered with multiple outside chess organizations to bring the community to our campus since 2019.”
Lastly, Fernando co-organized a chess charity event called the “First Annual Orlando Chess Open,” hosted at the University Club of Winter Park, which raised more than $2,500 from entry fees and donations for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida.
He can be reached at fernando@orcachess.com.
Joseph Criscuolo
Vice President / Director
Joseph Criscuolo is proud to serve as one of the vice presidents of the Orlando Regional Chess Alliance. His chess journey began in 2004 as a sophomore at St. John Vianney in Holmdel, NJ, where he quickly became one of the top players in his school. Inspired by a simultaneous exhibition at a world expo-style event, his mother bought him Chessmaster for the Game Boy Advance, which helped develop his skills.
Criscuolo has participated in numerous tournaments, including tying for second place in the U1800 section of the 2011 US Amateur East, the 2024 Chess Angels Memorial, and the 2006 Empire City Open. A memorable moment in his early chess career came in 2009 when he drew Jennifer Shahade in a simul at a chess night hosted by the Lakewood BlueClaws minor league baseball team.
After moving to Florida in 2013 to attend the Disney College Program, Criscuolo played most of his chess online until 2023, when he attended his first Orlando Chess Association meeting. This marked the start of a major chess comeback, with Criscuolo assisting Nick Perez and becoming vice president of the Orlando Regional Chess Alliance, contributing to the local chess scene.
Criscuolo also has a diverse set of interests, including model trains, video games, iRacing, NASCAR, hockey, and theme parks. He is a fan of Chase Elliott in NASCAR and the New York Rangers in hockey. He works at Walt Disney World as a steam train engineer and seasonally at the Universal Orlando Resort. A graduate of Seton Hall University with a degree in hospitality, he is currently pursuing a second degree in hospitality management through the Disney Aspire program. Joseph is excited to see the future of chess in Orlando and welcomes others to join local events.
He can be reached at joseph@orcachess.com.
Sammy Lou
Vice President of Scholastic Affairs
Sammy Lou is VP of Scholastic Affairs for ORCA. Sammy is a high school junior who has been an enthusiastic chess player since the age of 6 and is always trying to get better. He loves teaching the game to other kids and getting more people to play chess.
In the summer of 2024, he held a chess camp for kids with the goal of making chess fun for beginners. The year before that, Sammy jump-started chess activities at his school as co-founder and president of the chess club and organized a schoolwide charity tournament. In addition, he recently invited a grandmaster to come to campus and hosted a simul exhibition that gave students a chance to test their chess skills against the coach of the Cuban national team.
Sammy teamed up with other local chess club leaders to organize the inaugural Orlando Chess Open, helping to recruit around 50 scholastic players. He is excited to be a founding member of ORCA and hopes to get an even bigger turnout at the upcoming Orlando Magic Chess Championship. He looks forward to building a chess community for youth in Orlando with the Orlando Regional Chess Alliance.
Visit his club page here: fljchess.com
He can be reached at sammy@orcachess.com.
Contact us for any questions or concerns and to learn how to get involved
