Oregon's new woman grandmaster in chess is 16 years old

(JANUARY 17, 2025) Zoey Tang is 16 years old. She is a junior at Westview High School in Beaverton. She is also Oregon's first woman grandmaster in chess.

This is a special honor. Among the 350,000 competitive chess players in the world, only about 11% are women. Furthermore, fewer than 500 of them are grandmasters.

Tang's next goal is the general grandmaster title for all players, both men and women. Competitive chess players get titles like "grandmaster" by competing in tournaments. Only two people from Oregon have received this prize.

Tang started playing chess when she was 7 years old. “It was fun, and it was also challenging because it’s not like Candyland, where it’s just luck,” she said. “There’s actual strategy, and you can improve by just practicing.” She doesn't worry about losing games; she sees each game as a learning opportunity. “A huge part of chess is just losing a whole bunch,” Tang said. “You have to be able to learn and pick yourself up from that and improve from your losses.”