Cover Story / Annie Wang
By JORGE BARRERA
EARLIER IN THE SUMMER AT THE 2014 NORTH AMERICAN YOUTH CHESS TOURNAMENT in New York, the last round for the U-18 Girls section was winding to a close. Though the room was quiet and filled with intense concentration, the winner had almost, but not quite, already been decid ed. WIM Annie Wang of southern California was playing Yue Chu of Texas, and outside the tournament room, Annie’s father knew something his daughter did not. Annie was a whole point ahead of her nearest rival, and a draw would be sufficient to make her the winner of the event. Annie did not know this, however, and she played with deliberate moves for the full point, winning the tournament.
With such a victory which demonstrates
skill and deep insight into the game, one might think Annie is a veteran teen player about to join the ranks of adult master players. Yet, the truth is more remarkable, for Annie is 12 years old. Winning such a high profile tournament
against opponents up to six years older is not the only unusual part in Annie’s story. Unlike the much-repeated accounts of prominent chess players who were taught by a family member or had siblings to compete against and hone their skills, Annie came to chess by chance. As she and her family were attending a festival at a local park, this young chess wizard says that she became interested in the game when she decided to participate in a quick simultaneous chess demonstration. It wasn’t the quick thinking or the thrill of competing with others which attracted her, but rather, she says she was attracted by the wonderful “shape of the pieces.” Drawn in by aesthetics, Annie has become a USCF national master (breaking the record for the youngest girl ever to do so), under stand ing the complex move - ments of knights, rooks, and bishops over the board. She showed such prowess at the North American Youth Chess Tourna - ment this year. After a less than perfect start, she felt that she “might have gotten lucky against Maggie Feng” in round seven, but her fortunes changed, and she went on to win the following four games. Yet, it is hard to tell how much luck can really be given the credit when Annie demonstrates
her skill and amazing expertise so consis- tently, as reflected in both her tournament results and the way she has risen in proficiency over these last years. While chess seemed to come to her by chance, it was not long after she started playing that she participated in her first USCF-rated tournament. Although her ini tial results there could easily be de - scribed as lackluster, this did not deter her from continuing to explore and test her methods in the game. Towards this end, Annie enrolled at the academy Beyond Chess, in Roland Heights, California where she was taught by Sarah Lu and later by IM Kong Liang “Ben” Deng. Her concen- tration on the game has been serious from the beginning and that is mirrored in her performances on the board. When questioned about how she
approaches her matches, she says that she “focuses on the board game by game.” Perhaps this is part of the reason why she won at the North American Youth. Before her match against Maggie, she had lost against Rachel Gologorsky from Florida, who is clearly a veteran, having appear ances in over a hundred tourna - ments. The loss left Annie with 21
⁄2 points
after four rounds, which is hardly on the winning path for any tournament. Many players might lack confidence and would feel disappointed with such a start to an important tournament, as exemplified by the familiar U’s at the end of many cross - tables. Yet, by focusing on one game at a time, and winning five consecutive games,
Annie won the tournament. Reflecting on whether or not there were
any games that were really pivotal for her, she said “there were only two tournaments that stood out” as being key moments in her becoming very committed to chess. The first, she indicated, was the Pan Am games and the second was a Susan Polgar invitational tournament. After these two events, she realized that chess was a serious endeavor. The dedication she has demonstrated, as well as her intense focus and amazing talent has surely helped her reach the title of master. In fact, Annie is the youngest girl to have ever reached such a feat in the United States. When asked whether she had any favorite
players or if she was inspired by the game play of any of the famous grandmasters, she averred that she had none. Of course, at her level, playing with opponents much older than her is normal, and despite this age difference, she feels the same, as she is still working with what is on the board. And what will the next move be? After
an inquiry as to what her future plans might be, she replied that there is only one goal in mind: “to become a grandmaster by the age of 18.” Only that, and nothing else. It’s a direct and powerful statement, and since so much of her success comes from focusing on one thing at a time, Annie will undoubt edly reach her goal!
Annie Wang annotates her favorite game
from the North American Youth Chess Championships for Chess Life beginning on the next page.
www.uschess.org 25
PHOTOS COURTESY OF SUBJECT
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