Danial Wilson, president and founder of Wilson Chess, builds his work as a private coach, high school coach, tournament director, and tournament organizer on his life-long fascination with chess. Starting out as a competitive chess player, he now has over 10 years of experience in teaching chess, and has been certified as Senior Tournament Director by USCF, and is set to get the distinction as FIDE Arbiter (April 2024).

Danial was the first ever recipient of the CPS Coach of the Year award in 2019 for leading Taft High School to be one of the best teams as a non-selective enrollment school in Chicago. In the most recent years, the team has placed in the top 40 at the Illinois State Championships.

He has been invited to assume a multitude of chess-related positions in the Chicagoland area and beyond, including serving as a chief tournament director and organizer at multiple large national US Chess events, proctoring for Chess.com, as well as consulting and tournament directing for the not-for-profit Chicago Chess Foundation. 

Danial also focuses on the betterment of the community by coordinating fundraising events for school programs and charities.

Arjun is an International Master originally from India. He has a passion for the game of chess and truly enjoys passing along his expertise. Arjun is an established coach with 15+ years of experience teaching and mentoring students. Many of them, with his help, have achieved significant accomplishments. 

Accomplishments:

• International Master by 16 years of age

• British Junior chess champion 2001

• National G/60 Chess Champion of the United States, 2006

• Runner-up in the World Open (U2400), United States, 2007

• Champion in the First Saturday IM A Tournament

• Champion in the First Saturday IM A Tournament achieving Final IM Norm in Budapest, Hungary, 2007 

Whitman Kosak is currently attending Lane Tech High School, where he co-leads his high school chess club and team. Throughout his high school career, Whitman has helped the team grow substantially, including leading his team to an 8th place finish at the 2024 State Championships, where he personally finished with 6.5/7. Besides helping lead his school Chess team, Whitman has played competitively in almost 60 USCF rated tournaments and has achieved a rating of over 2000. 

Whitman has spent time working with elementary school players: In 2023, he helped to coach the Bell Elementary Chess team, who finished the year off with multiple top 5 finishes in CPS tournaments. Over the 8 years Whitman has played chess, he has spent countless hours learning and teaching, and he hopes to share his knowledge with as many people as possible.

Accomplishments:

• Expert level player

• Top 150 ranking in Illinois overall

• Tied for 1st at Greater Chicago K-12 Championship 2023 and 2024

• 2nd highest-rated player at Lane Tech