About Our Founders
George and Jake are self-taught internationally ranked players who have dedicated thousands of hours to volunteer teaching. In August 2012, they founded Chess Haven and in May 2015, they achieved non-profit status, enabling them to further achieve their goal of fostering logical reasoning and critical thinking skills in children worldwide. They place a strong emphasis on the integration of their chess curriculum into the classroom.
Below are two articles describing the impact they made though Chess Haven:
JAKE WANG
Jake represented the United States at the 2019 North American Youth Championships in Canada and the 2019 World Youth Chess Championship in India. He has numerous impressive tournament results, including 1st place finishes in the 2018 U.S. Open (Class A Division), the 2018 U.S. Open Scholastic Championship, and the 2017 Continental Open U1900. Jake's peak Connecticut state ranking for his age group is #1 and he holds the state champion title for his grade. Outside of Chess Haven, Jake is a USCF Certified Chess Coach and a Certified Tournament Director. His other passions besides chess include running cross country and track, and reading novels. Jake is currently tutoring students privately and is also working with Chess Haven volunteers.
GEORGE WANG
George represented the United States at the 2019 North American Youth Championships in Canada and the 2019 World Youth Chess Championship in India. George also holds many state-level accolades, such as the Connecticut State Sophomore Chess Champion (with a peak rank for his age group of #1) and 2013 Connecticut Junior Grand Prix Champion.
In addition, he is a USCF Certified Chess Coach and a Tournament Director. Away from the chessboard, George enjoys running 5K and half-marathon races.