Lawrence Bernstein has spent more than 25 years as an educator in direct marketing, business development, and advertising history. His clients have ranged from bootstrappers to billionaires across dozens of industries and in nearly every continent.
He is passionate about chess and childhood education. He served multiple terms on the Board of Governors of the prestigious Marshall Chess Club, where he supported scholastic tournaments and educational opportunities for young players throughout metropolitan New York City, arguably the chess capital of the country.
During his tenure, he also supervised and played with some of the country’s top junior talent, including Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura, currently ranked Nos. 2 and 3 in the world by FIDE.
Lawrence continued this commitment with his wife, Anjelina Belakovskaia, first with their own children, two of whom reached the US Chess Top 100 in their respective age categories, and later through a key role in Belakovskaia Chess Academy. Together, they have taught young players, organized chess programs and tournaments, and supported students from their first introduction to the game through advanced competitive play.
Lawrence and Anjelina founded the annual Chess & Science Festival in partnership with the University of Arizona’s Flandrau Science Center & Planetarium, a six-year Tucson community event centered on an all-girls chess tournament and designed to connect chess with STEM education, confidence-building, and broader success in math, science, finance, business, and life.
Lawrence is proud of his role in helping develop and deliver a rigorous and fun chess curriculum for ambitious K–2 and grades 3–5 learners in GT Anywhere’s Spring 2026 pilot program, The School of Champions.