Chess champions

Cadence Yu takes the chess world by storm

Twelve-year-old Diocesan student Cadence (Weiyang) Yu (Yr 8) has been dubbed ‘one to watch’ after her outstanding performance in the 2022 Chess Olympiad, the world’s biggest chess championships held recently in Chennai, India. Cadence was the youngest competitor on the New Zealand Women’s Team, which was seeded 74th out of 162 nations at the start of the competition. The team ended up finishing 67th, which was a great result for a team who were all under 20 years old and facing off against some of the best chess players in the world. They achieved five wins, one draw and five losses.

Cadence Yu

Cadence, who has only been playing chess for three years, won four of the eight games she played. FIDE, the international chess governing body, recognised her outstanding performance with an individual Women's Candidate Master (WCM) title. Cadence will have to earn more points before she can fully accept the title, but she will have the award for life.

Cadence loves the responsibility you feel during a game of chess. “You make one wrong decision and your whole troop will be lost. I also like how you must keep your cool during every moment of the game because if you stop thinking and play illogically for just one move, you could throw away all the efforts made to date and lose.”

Female chess players only make up 11% of the worldwide population that plays chess and only one woman (Grandmaster Yifan Hou) is included in the world’s top 100 players. In New Zealand, there are only about 150 NZ Chess Federation-registered female players.

Cadence says: “I think there shouldn’t be such a huge gap between the female and male level of participation in chess. By training to become a stronger player myself, I hope to inspire more girls in New Zealand – starting with the people around me – to learn and enjoy chess.” and says her interest in chess really surged during the 2021 Candidates Tournament when she watched commentary on a game by Grandmaster Ian Nepomniachtchi, who soon became her first idol. She is currently coached by former New Zealand Champion and FIDE Master Ewen Green.

Aside from chess, Cadence also plays tennis and the drums and loves writing, keeping a diary of her time at the Olympiad.

“It was an absolutely amazing experience, standing in a room full of the world’s best chess players and thinking ‘they are just like me’. It made me feel the joy of doing something I love, with all the other people who love the same thing. I have never played abroad before, and this was the first time I was able to represent my country… what more can I ask?”

Another Dio player, Lauren Ng (Yr 7), went to the Asian Youth Chess Championships in Bali in October. At the championships, Lauren played nine games and came away with three and a half points – three wins and a draw (including a win over Australia). Only one player in

Right: Lauren Ng in action

the New Zealand Women’s team had more points.

Both Cadance and Lauren went through a lengthy application process for these competitions and were selected on the basis of their FIDE rankings and recent performance.

The Dio Chess Club’s current incarnation came about at the beginning of last year, driven largely by players coming up from the Junior School wanting to continue playing. It has fortunately taken off with senior students as well, and a number of seniors have played in the Auckland Girls’ Championship and the Interschool Chess Championship. But for most of the members it's just a bit of fun. Teacherin-charge James Easteal says: “We are in C4.25 during lunchtime on a day three – anyone is welcome to come and play, or even learn how to play.”