Derek is a US Chess Federation National Master and has won many regional and national chess awards. He won the 10th place in the 2023 National Grade Championship. In the 2023 World Amateur Team East Tournament, his team won the 1st place of all the scholastic teams (K-12) and the 1st place of all the Massachusetts teams (all ages). He won the 3rd place in the 2023 Invitational Spiegel Cup State Championship (high school section), 2nd Place in the 2021 Invitational Spiegel Cup State Championship (high school section), and 2nd Place in the 2020 Invitation Spiegel Cup State Championship (14 and under). In the 2019 World Amateur East Team Tournament, his team won the Benjamin Award for securing the 1st place of all the Massachusetts teams (all ages). He was selected as a member of the 2018 All American Chess Team.

Derek has been co-organizing chess events and teaching free chess lessons for many years as the co-president and a founding board member of Chess4Unity (online, national) and president and co-founder of Chess+Math Lab (in person, local underserved communities). In addition, Derek enjoyed exploring number theory problems at the PROMYS math camp. He qualified for AIME in 2020-2024 and for AMO in 2024. One of Derek’s greatest joys is to fuse math into fun chess activities and observe his students grow academic and life skills through chess games. Besides chess and math, Derek is on his school tennis varsity team and has a passion for writing.

Alexander is a US Chess Federation Chess Expert and Candidate Master. He tied for first place in the 2017 Spiegel Cup State Championship for ages 8 and under, earned 16th place in the 2018 National Grade Championship, and secured 3rd place in the 2020 Spiegel Cup State Championship for ages 11 and under. In 2020, he represented the state of Massachusetts in the John D. Rockefeller III National Tournament of Elementary School State Champions, where he achieved 5th place.

In addition to his chess accomplishments, Alexander has been teaching chess for many years and is a certified chess tournament director, having directed several USCF-rated tournaments. In mathematics, he has been a member of the MIT PRIMES STEP program and has qualified for the AIME twice. Alexander was also awarded the summa cum laude certificate and gold medal from the American Classical League and the National Junior Classical League. Beyond chess and math, Alexander is an active member of his school’s crew team and concert band, and he enjoys playing soccer and the saxophone.

Eric attends Acton-Boxborough Regional High school in the Class of 2027. He has been playing chess competitively since he was 6 years old. In 2022, at the age of 13, Eric achieved the US Chess Federation National Master title and has a peak USCF rating of 2283.

He is 5-time Massachusetts State Spiegel Cup invitational champion/co-champion(the 1st place in 2020 in 11 and under section, tie for the 1st place in 2021 in 14 and under section, the 1st place in 2022 and 2023 in middle school section, the 1st place in 2024 in high school section), and has won the 4th place in national Barber middle school state champions invitational in 2023, and won Ursula Foster 15U Memorial Award in national Denker high school state champions invitational in 2024. He is a big fan of blitz chess, has won the 2nd place in North American Blitz tournament(U14) in 2021, the 1st place in national Weeramantry Blitz tournament (U2200) in 2022, and the 1st place in Masschusetts Open Blitz tournament in 2024.

He has worked as a volunteer for teaching kids chess, and organized online chess tournaments since 2022, he is passionate about sharing his chess knowledge and teaching kids chess.

Other than chess, he has a passion for music, he plays piano and clarinet, has won awards several times in Massachusetts Bay State piano competitions. He is also a member of the varsity track team in his high school.

Justin attends Belmont Hill School in the Class of 2026. Currently he is a US Chess Federation Chess Expert. He is one of the top scholastic players in Massachusetts and won many local chess tournaments. He began playing chess at the age of seven and has been volunteering teaching chess classes since fifth grade. Justin has co-organized chess events and volunteered for various not-for-profit organizations. Apart from chess, Justin competes in track and field and enjoys reading and digital music.

Ethan Qiao began his chess journey in 2017 at the age of 9. Over the years, he has competed in numerous chess tournaments, earning several prizes. In 2020, he secured 31st place in the 6th Grade National Championship. The following year, in 2021, Ethan placed 3rd in the U2100 section of the Boston Elite Thanksgiving Open. In 2023, he claimed 2nd place in the Class A section of the Eastern Class Championship and earned the title of annual club champion at the Plainville Chess Club. His peak chess rating is 1953.

Ethan is currently a sophomore at the Commonwealth School. Beyond chess, he is deeply passionate about violin performance and is a member of the NEC Baroque Ensemble.

Frank is a US Chess Federation Expert. He played his first OTB chess tournament when he was seven years old, over the years he played in a lot of chess tournaments and won many prizes. He won a bunch of trophies in the Future Master Chess Academy, he also won the Gus Gossellin grade championship in K-2. Frank played in the Hurvitz Cup twice, he led Team Harrington won the 2nd and 1st places. Frank also went to the K-12 nationals twice and got tied 15th in 3rd grade and tied 20th in 4th grade. Frank got to play in the spiegel cup twice in K-5, he got tied 2nd and tied 3rd. Frank played in the world amateur team east tournament twice, he won a prize once for the first place in U10. In 2024, Frank got invited to play in the world cadet chess tournament in Italy.

Frank is currently a 5th grader in Harrington Elementary School. Beyond chess, he has a passion for math. Frank has got 1st and 2nd places in Math Kangaroo.