Our team

Founder and Managing Director

David Garceran Nieuwenburg (2012 - present)

As a youth in the Netherlands, David earned a National Club Team title and received training from IM Cor van Wijgerden, co-creator of the Step Method.

David has played competitively in several countries and was briefly President of the Hong Kong Chess Federation in 2015 and returned as Director in 2023 and Vice President in 2024.

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David is a certified FIDE National Instructor and a FIDE Arbiter and is passionate about promoting chess through teaching and organizing events locally and abroad.

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David is a Fulbright Scholar and holds M.A and M.Sc Master's degrees from Leiden University and Erasmus University Rotterdam School of Management and went to the Johns Hopkins Paul H. Nitze School of Strategic Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington DC for his Ph.D.

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Boxing, going to the gym and hiking with his dog, Bobby, are David's favorite free time activities. 

Regional Head of Training 

IM Matthew Tan (2018 - present)

Coach Matthew is an International Master with a degree in mathematics. As Head of Training, Matthew oversees our classes, curriculum and guidance of the students at the different tournaments.
 
A former youth national champion, he has represented the Netherlands at different international competitions with his best result a top 10 place at the European Championship U14. He achieved the FIDE Master title in 2008 and the International Master title in 2012. 

A certified FIDE Trainer since 2018, with over two decades of teaching experience using the Step Method, Matthew blends his maths teaching background with his chess expertise.

Matthew has been coaching some of the top youngsters in Hong Kong to win several youth titles. His next goal is to bring them to the international stage and have them compete with the best in the world. 
 
An active person, in his free time, Matthew can be found in the gym or on the hiking trails with his dog.

Osaka Branch Manager

Leonard Brinkmann

Leonard is from Germany and has a B.A. degree in Japanology. He started playing chess at the age of 8 and lives in Japan since 2016. He has ample experience in teaching chess in German, English and Japanese doing this online as well as over the board for many years. 

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As a chess player he played in various tournaments in Europe as well as Japan also winning a few smaller ones but is currently focused on chess education and organizing chess-related events in Japan (mainly Osaka). He is also the founder and active leader of Kashiwara Chess Club. 

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Chess has always been a huge part of his life and Leo thinks that chess contributed a lot to his well-being and enabled him to make good decisions in life. Being a chess lover himself he is passionate about promoting and conveying the joy of chess in Japan.  

In his spare time he enjoys playing piano, reading and sometimes hiking. 

Trainer 

CM Kan Nakahara

Nakahara is a Candidate Master and was the Japan Youth Champion from 2019 to 2021. Born and raised in Japan, he began playing chess at the age of eight and has represented Japan in numerous international junior chess tournaments. He specializes in speed chess and has defeated grandmasters over 100 times in online chess! He is currently studying medicine at university while also being an active player.

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He continues to devote his time to chess, participating in overseas tournaments during longer holidays and steadily improving his skills as a promising young player. Since 2023, he has led his team to the Japanese championship wins for three consecutive years, playing on a different team each year. He also has teaching experience, and his goal is to help students improve their skills while enjoying chess.

He wants as many people as possible to experience the joy of chess, and hopes to contribute to the spread of chess in Japan.