Roy-Allen Bumpers, 39 years old, was born and raised on the East Side of Cleveland. He’s married and has 3 kids. He is a proud graduate of the Cleveland Metropolitan District (Jane Addams c/o 2002). Roy obtained a Bachelor of Science in Professional Retail Sales and Management from Bellevue University. In addition, Roy also obtained an Associate of Arts degree from Cuyahoga Community College. He has over 15 years of experience in the retail industry (particularly in wireless)!

Roy taught himself how to play chess at the age of 9 years old by reading the rules included in a chess set he got for Christmas. As he taught himself how to play, he taught every kid on his street how to as well so he could have others to play with! Roy would play chess casually up until 2015 & played quite a bit online. Chess grew on Roy heavily and it lead him to the USCF/the vast world of tournament chess. Ever since then, Roy has been an active tournament player. In addition, he is also a USCF certified tournament director, having directed several open and scholastic tournaments at the local, state, and national levels. Besides chess, Roy enjoys playing video games, reading, engaging in his kids’ activities, and service as an active alumni member of his fraternity, Kappa Alpha Psi.

Roy began teaching for ProgressWithChess in 2016. During his time, he has directed over 100 tournaments at the local, state, and national levels. Roy was trained by the late Joe Yun, one of the most known and highly respected tournaments directors in the country. In addition, Roy has worked with several scholastic players, training them at the novice level and being instrumental in their chess careers. Aside from working with ProgressWithChess, Roy also works part time at a Cleveland area dentist office as a dentist assistant.