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High school junior becomes Oregon's first woman chess grandmaster

Zoey Tang at the Portland Chess Club. Zoey became the first Woman grandmaster in Oregon history.
Photo by Samantha Swindler
/
The Oregonian
Zoey Tang at the Portland Chess Club. Zoey recently became the first Woman grandmaster in Oregon history.

Zoey Tang became the first woman chess grandmaster in the state of Oregon last year. She still a student in her junior year at Westview High School in Beaverton, Oregon. At age 16, Zoey has already traveled across the country and internationally to compete in more than 250 tournaments. In November, she tied for first place in the Continental Women’s tournament in the Dominican Republic. That achievement earned her the woman grandmaster title.

Zoey Tang joins the Exchange to talk about her achievements, her strategies, love of chess, and the challenges she has had to face and overcome.

Zoey also founded Puddletown Chess in 2022, which is a nonprofit that does chess programs in elementary and middle schools.

According to the website HEREISOREGON.com:

“Woman grandmaster” is the highest chess title restricted to women that is awarded by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs, or FIDE, the international governing body over competitive chess. (International Chess Federation)

To put Tang’s achievement into perspective, there are some 350,000 active FIDE-rated chess players across the globe, according to chess.com. About 11% – or 38,500 – of those players are women, and fewer than 500 players are woman grandmasters.

According to the Portland Chess Club, Tang is the first Oregonian to receive the woman grandmaster title.

(Excerpt from The Oregonian/OregonLive, written by Samantha Swindler)

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Mike Green is host of the Jefferson Exchange. Mike has lived in Southern Oregon for more than two decades. He is an award-winning journalist with over 20 years experience in media, specializing in media innovation, inclusive economics and entrepreneurship.
Natalie Golay is the Senior Producer of the Jefferson Exchange. She has a B.A. in Visual Arts, a multimedia certificate from the Vancouver Film school, and a law degree from the University of British Columbia. A communications professional for over 20 years, Natalie is a natural storyteller with extensive audio and video production skills.