Outsmarting opponents one move at a time, Diamond Bar High School sophomore Jonathan Chen recently secured a top 50 finish in the U16 division of the World Youth Chess Championships.
Chen’s passion for chess began at five years old, when he was introduced to the game by his father and his friends. After learning the basics, his passion for the activity grew, and he soon recognized his determination to master the game as a whole. However, Chen knew that the road to becoming a “chess master” wouldn’t be easy.
“Becoming a master at something doesn’t happen within days or even months,” Chen said. “It takes years of dedication and patience until finally you’ve reached that point.”
By putting in hours of hard work every single day, Chen found himself at a level above his peers. He was the third youngest person in the US to receive the National Master (NM) title. He also won four chess national championships when he was six, seven, ten and fourteen years old. But most impressively, Chen secured third place at the World Cadets Chess Championship, the most prestigious chess tournament in the world.
Chen now has the honor of being a FIDE Master (FM), a title only given to a few thousand of the best chess players. However, he is still looking to improve even more.
“My long-term goal for chess is to reach IM (International Master),” Chen said. “It’s not an easy task and takes a lot of time and effort, but I will reach it at some point.”
Though playing chess remains one of Chen’s top priorities, he doesn’t plan on becoming a full-time chess player in the future. Despite this, he says that he will always try to play for fun when he can, since chess has greatly impacted him throughout his life so far.
“Being a chess master influences my thinking a lot, I think about many details and different ways of doing things,” Chen said. “Chess has taught me to be patient and to let opportunities come.”
