RVA Pieces, The Richmond Chess Club, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, exists to foster a thriving environment and active community for casual and competitive chess in our city, as well as provide access to stellar chess education for everyone, regardless of age or skill level.
Board Members & Volunteers
RVA Pieces is guided by our board members based on input from the community. Below, you can find a list of our current board members and other core volunteers:
Spenser Kearns
Spenser Kearns is a founding member of RVA Pieces, serving on the board since the club incorporated in 2021. Spenser has served as RVA Pieces President since 2023. He’s been a regular member of the Richmond chess scene for over 10 years, both as a player and a coach, and was an active tournament player in his youth.
Spenser studied saxophone performance and music education at VCU from 2013–2016 and currently teaches chess privately from his home in Randolph.
Discord: @Spenser (the only Spenser)
Email: spenserkearns@gmail.com
Jonny Nuckols
Jonny started playing chess with RVA Pieces in 2021 and became Treasurer in 2024. He was his 4th & 5th grade club champion, then took a decades long hiatus until realizing that chess is, and in fact was always, indeed cool. He loves to travel, ferment, drink fancy coffee, and teach his daughter about “horsies” and “yas queens” as often as she lets him.
Discord: @jonnynuckols
Hannah Hahn
Hannah has been a part of RVA Pieces since the end of 2021, which is also around the time she first learned to play chess. She has been on the board of directors as Secretary since the spring of 2022. Outside of chess, she loves playing Catan with her friends, cooking, karaoke, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Discord: @chessbrat
Will Pittman
Will has been a member of RVA Pieces since 2016 and a member of the board since 2022. He serves as the Club Tournament Director. Will enjoys chess books and history, and outside of chess, audiobooks, movies, Anime/Manga and television.
Discord: @willz07.
Jared Thomson
Jared Thomson has been in Richmond for about 3 years and part of RVA Pieces for about half that. He has been serving as our Community Outreach Director since 2024. Jared is always down to chat Vienna opening traps, music production, cooking and fiction novels.
Discord: @jarjarjared
Jaclyn Brown
Jaclyn is RVA Pieces’ photographer. She has been a Richmond resident since 2010 and a professional photographer since 2009. She is a photography professor at VCU. As a newbie to chess, she is loving learning the game and has been a part of the club for a year.
Discord: @Jaclyn
Matt White
Matt learned chess when he was young and has gotten more involved in the last few years. Matt discovered RVA Pieces during a walk through Monroe Park. Today, Matt maintains the RVA Pieces website. Matt enjoys other board games, including Go and shogi, and loves to spend time along the James.
Discord: @Matt W
