Harvey Lerman

President of Florida Chess
Editor of the Magazine
Senior Tournament Director

Harvey Lerman was always enthusiastic about the game of chess and played regularly during his formative years. As an adult, his career and family took precedent over chess. He did, with the encouragement of his company for a community service project, organize and directed a one-day chess tournament for the youth of Central Florida each year. This annual tournament was always a huge success. Upon retirement in 1998, he felt a need to create an interest in chess, and he began to organize and direct chess tournaments for the Central Florida Chess Club. He became certified as a club director and a national director. His activities expanded quickly into chess tournaments not only in Central Florida but across the state. He was then invited to direct tournaments for other organizers throughout the state as well as other states in the southeast.

Not long after he began this new chapter in his life, he took over the editing and production of the state chess news magazine and also edited the Skittles magazine for youth. At the same time, he worked locally for several years, running a chess after-school program in a local school. For over the next 20 years, he continued to edit and produce the state magazine, as well as organize and direct national, state, and local chess tournaments. In 2021, he was honored with the annual state tournament being named after him.