Martha Lorena Fierro Baquero, born in Rhode Island,USA but from Ecuador is the highest rated Panamerican female chess player. She started playing chess at the age of 14 but she compensated the difficulties of being a latecomer by advancing rapidly. Her current rating, slightly above the 2400 mark is her best rating ever. In the Chess Olympiad last November in Dresden, she scored 7.5 out of 8 with a rating performance of 2613 and a silver medal on the first board.

She holds the FIDE player titles of International Master and Woman Grandmaster and the FIDE training title of FIDE Trainer. She has represented Ecuador in several Chess Olympiads and dominated the domestic championships by winning all the titles between 1992-2002. She won a silver medal in the Yerevan 1996 Chess Olympiad. She has already won the Panamerican Championship 5 times. She was tied for the fourth place in the World Junior Girls Championship in Brazil 1994.