Press & Media
Media kit
A clean fact sheet, a ready-to-quote biography, and contact details for journalists, organisers, and programmers. Everything below is cleared for publication.
4:45CTV News Vancouver · Your Morning Vancouver
“The youngest active International Chess Federation master in Canada”
Lucas sat down with Your Morning Vancouver to talk about the title and the twenty-board simultaneous. 18 September 2026.
CBC Radio · with Gloria Macarenko
“11-year-old Lucas Yao is one of Canada's best chess players”
CBC Radio sat down with Lucas about the FIDE Master title and what practice looks like at eleven.
Cleared for publication, credited beneath each frame. In team-event photographs, faces other than Lucas’s are obscured at the families’ request.
CBC Radio — interviewed by Gloria Macarenko
CBC Radio on the FIDE Master title at eleven — the interview, in full.
Reciting pi to 2,030 decimal places
A memory milestone from age 7, shared by the family.
Mozart concerto at Music Fest Perugia, Italy
Concerto No. 12, K414 with orchestra — the Italian chapter of the music journey.
Debut piano recital at Pyatt Hall
A longer recital record from Vancouver.
“【非常人物】12歲國際棋聯大師姚品謙也是鋼琴高手引關注”
Sing Tao Daily’s Education section profiled Lucas (姚品謙) as both a FIDE Master and a pianist.
Watch / read at singtao.caWatch · 4:45“The youngest active International Chess Federation master in Canada”
CTV News Vancouver on Lucas, his FIDE Master title, and the twenty-board simultaneous exhibition.
Watch / read at ctvnews.ca“Twelve-year-old Pitt Meadows chess master takes on 20 players”
CBC’s On the Coast covered the simultaneous exhibition at Oakridge Park.
Read at cbc.ca“11-year-old Lucas Yao is one of Canada’s best chess players”
Gloria Macarenko interviews Lucas about the FIDE Master title and daily practice.
Read at cbc.caHeadlines are the outlets’ own wording, quoted as published.
- Name
- Lucas Yao
- Age
- 12
- Hometown
- Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Nationality
- Canadian
- Disciplines
- Chess · Classical Piano · Acting · Art
- Chess Titles
- FIDE Master, Candidate Master, National Master — all earned at age 11 in Montreal, Canada
- Governing Bodies
- FIDE (Fédération Internationale des Échecs) · Chess Federation of Canada (CFC)
- Piano Highlights
- Carnegie Hall at age 5 · Orchestra performance in Italy at age 7 · Pyatt Hall debut recital at age 8 · Basilica di San Pietro (Perugia, Italy)
- Memory & Academics
- Recited 2,030 digits of pi by age 7; psychoeducational assessment placed him in the 99.99th percentile for mathematics
- International Chess
- Singapore · Malaysia · Italy · Egypt (World Cadet Chess Championship) · Hungary · Austria · Serbia · Costa Rica (FIDE World Schools Team Championship)
- Team Result
- First in Canada with his school team, then third at the FIDE World Schools Team Championship, American Continental Stage, San José, Costa Rica (August 2026)
- Community
- Played a twenty-board simultaneous exhibition against members of the public, hosted at Oakridge Park, Vancouver (September 2026)
- Contact
- info@lucasyao.com
Lucas Yao is a 12-year-old chess player, classical pianist, actor, and young creative from Vancouver, British Columbia. He holds three chess titles — National Master, Candidate Master, and FIDE Master — and has represented Canada internationally at youth chess events.
Lucas’s music began early. He performed at Carnegie Hall at age 5, gave his first orchestra performance in Italy at age 7, and later made a debut recital at Vancouver’s Pyatt Hall. Away from the stage, he continues the ordinary daily work of lessons, practice, review, and school.
In 2026 he played for his school team at the FIDE World Schools Team Championship in Costa Rica, where the side finished third at the American Continental Stage after winning its way out of Canada. Back home in Vancouver that September, he played twenty members of the public at once in a simultaneous exhibition hosted at Oakridge Park.
His path has also included acting, art, advanced mathematics, and memory work, including reciting 2,030 digits of pi by age 7. This site keeps the focus on verified milestones, the people supporting the work, and the opportunities still ahead.
FIDE
Fédération Internationale des Échecs
Chess Federation of Canada
Fédération canadienne des échecs (CFC)
Piano venues for caption use: Carnegie Hall (New York, United States) and the Basilica di San Pietro (Perugia, Italy).
Interview, performance, and image requests:
info@lucasyao.com