Carissa Yip, Our Top Ranked Female Player Internationally, Turns 16

Carissa Yip rocketed up the rating charts and is now the #1 ranked female chessplayer in the U.S. just in time for her sixteenth birthday today, September 10th, 2019.

Carissa defended her title at the 2019 U.S. Junior Girls Championship, and followed it up with a formidable showing in the U.S. Masters to propel her to new heights. She earned her second IM norm at the U.S. Masters, and grew her rating over 2400 FIDE. She told CLO that her favorite victory from the summer was this win over Dariusz Swiercz, the highest rated player she ever beat.

[pgn] [Event "US Masters 2019"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.08.23"] [White "Swiercz, Darius"] [Black "Yip, Carissa"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E70"] [WhiteElo "2670"] [BlackElo "2300"] [Annotator "yip"] [PlyCount "178"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 O-O 5. Bd3 d6 6. Nge2 c6 7. O-O e5 8. d5 Nbd7 9. Bc2 cxd5 10. cxd5 a6 11. a4 a5 12. Bg5 Nc5 13. h3 Bd7 14. Rb1 Qb6 15. Be3 Rfc8 16. Nc1 Qd8 17. Qd2 Qe8 18. Ra1 b5 19. axb5 Bxb5 20. N1e2 Bc4 21. Ra3 Qd8 22. Rfa1 Rab8 23. Rxa5 Rxb2 24. Bxc5 Rxc5 25. Rxc5 dxc5 26. Qc1 Rb4 27. Qe3 Bf8 28. Bd3 Bxd3 29. Qxd3 c4 30. Qe3 Nd7 31. Qa7 Nc5 32. Qa8 Rb8 33. Qa5 Qc8 34. Qa7 Nd3 35. Kh2 Bc5 36. Qa4 Nxf2 37. Qxc4 Rb4 38. Qa6 Qxa6 39. Rxa6 Nxe4 40. Rc6 Bf8 41. g4 Nxc3 42. Nxc3 Rd4 43. Rc8 Kg7 44. Rd8 Rd2+ 45. Kg1 Rd3 46. Ne4 Re3 47. Nf2 Bc5 48. Rc8 Rg3+ 49. Kf1 Bxf2 50. Kxf2 Rxh3 51. Ke2 e4 52. d6 Rd3 53. Rd8 Kf6 54. Rd7 h6 55. Kf2 Rf3+ 56. Kg2 Ke6 57. Re7+ Kxd6 58. Rxe4 Ra3 59. Re8 Ra5 60. Kg3 h5 61. gxh5 Rxh5 62. Kf4 Rf5+ 63. Kg4 Re5 64. Ra8 Ke7 65. Ra7+ Kf6 66. Ra6+ Re6 67. Ra4 Kg7 68. Kg5 Re5+ 69. Kf4 Rf5+ 70. Kg4 Rf1 71. Ra7 Kh6 72. Ra6 f5+ 73. Kh4 Rh1+ 74. Kg3 Kg5 75. Ra5 Rb1 76. Ra3 f4+ 77. Kf3 Rb5 78. Ra6 Rb3+ 79. Kf2 Kf5 80. Rc6 g5 81. Ra6 Rb2+ 82. Kf1 f3 83. Ra4 g4 84. Kg1 g3 85. Ra1 Kg4 86. Rf1 Rg2+ 87. Kh1 Rh2+ 88. Kg1 f2+ 89. Rxf2 Rxf2 0-1 [/pgn]

She also beat IM Michael Mulyar in the same event.

[pgn] [Event "8th Washington Int 2019"] [Site "Rockville USA"] [Date "2019.07.28"] [White "Mulyar, M.."] [Black "Yip, Carissa"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D72"] [WhiteElo "2381"] [BlackElo "2285"] [PlyCount "86"] [EventDate "2019.07.27"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceTitle "The Week in Chess 1290"] [Source "Mark Crowther"] [SourceDate "2019.07.29"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2019.07.29"] [SourceQuality "2"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nb6 7. Ne2 e5 8. d5 c6 9. O-O O-O 10. Nbc3 Re8 11. Qb3 cxd5 12. Nxd5 Nc6 13. Be3 Nd4 14. Bxd4 exd4 15. Nef4 Bd7 16. a4 Nxd5 17. Nxd5 Bc6 18. a5 Rc8 19. h4 Qd7 20. Kh2 Kh8 21. h5 Re5 22. hxg6 hxg6 23. Bf3 Rce8 24. Rh1 Kg8 25. a6 b6 26. Rac1 Rxe4 27. Bxe4 Rxe4 28. Nf4 Bh6 29. Qc2 Rxf4 30. Qxc6 Rxf2+ 31. Kg1 Qxc6 32. Rxc6 Be3 33. Rc8+ Kg7 34. Ra8 Rxb2+ 35. Kf1 Rf2+ 36. Ke1 Ra2 37. Kf1 Rxa6 38. Ke2 Ra3 39. Rhh8 b5 40. Rhb8 Bg5 41. Rxb5 d3+ 42. Kf2 d2 43. Rd5 Ra1 0-1 [/pgn]

Carissa Yip at the US Masters (photo Hanks)

Yip was featured in a recent article on the Christian Science Monitor, which quoted the young star on why she loves chess.

“I can’t imagine my life without chess,” she says. “I can’t imagine my life before chess, too. ... It’s just a huge part of me.”

You can also see Yip in action in this video where she takes part in the chesskid.com World record attempt. Yip told CLO that she is looking forward to taking a gap year from her intensive high school, "It means I’m able to take more days off for tournaments. My school only allows five days of personal time, which isn’t nearly enough when it comes to tournaments like US Women’s. I’m also looking forward to dedicating more time to my chess studies, since school is usually intense." Carissa is part of the Top US Chess Women Chess Program, as funded by a grant by the Saint Louis Chess Club. You can now follow her on twitter at https://twitter.com/CarissaChess.