Quick Facts
VirgoBiography
Carissa Shiwen Yip (born September 10, 2003) is an American chess player. In September 2019, she was the top rated female player in the United States and the youngest female chess player to defeat a grandmaster, which she did at age ten. In October 2019, she became the youngest American woman in history to qualify for the title of International Master.
Career
Carissa Shiwen Yipwas born on September 10, 2003, in Massachusetts. Her father Percy Yip (Chinese: 葉培照; Pinyin: Yè Péizhào) was from Hong Kong, and her mother Irene Yip (née Cheng, Chinese: 程华琳; Pinyin: Chéng Huálín) was from mainland China.
Taught chess moves at age six by her father, within six months she was able to beat him. Soon, she became the best eight-year-old girl chess player in the country. In 2013, at the age of ten, she became the youngest female Expert (rating >2000) in U.S. history, and in 2015, she became an eleven-year-old U.S. Master.
Her first victory against a Grandmaster came on August 30, 2014, when she defeated Alexander Ivanov at the New England Open. At ten years of age, she was the youngest female ever to beat a Grandmaster. In July 2019, she earned the Woman Grandmaster title.
Tournaments
As of 2019, Yip has competed in three U.S. Women's Chess Championships. In 2016, she finished 9th out of 12, scoring 4.5/11. In 2017, she scored 4/11, finishing 11th. In 2019, she finished 8th, with a score of 4.5/11. In June 2019, she won the North American Junior Girls' Championship with a score of 8.5/9. She subsequently scored 7.5/9 to win the 2019 U.S. Junior Girls' Championship, earning an invitation to the 2020 U.S. Women's Championship.
Her 5.0/9 score at the 2019 Spice Cup made her the youngest American woman in history to earn the IM title.
Notable games
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Carissa Shiwen Yip vs Alexander Vladimirovich Ivanov. Modern Defense: Standard Line (B06) 1-0. Ignoring a pin on the b-file, Yip earns her first win against a Grandmaster.
Carissa Shiwen Yip vs Irina Krush, 2016 US Chess Championship (Women). Sicilian Defense: Kan. Yip defeats a six-time US Women's Champion. The final position contains a problem-like move.
Rating
With a FIDE Elo rating of 2422, in October 2019 she is the world's highest-rated female sixteen-year-old. In the November 2019 FIDE list, she was rated 7th among "Girls" (women under 20). As of September 2019, she was the top rated female player in the United States.