Express News Service
MAHABALIPURAM: Among the next crop of chess players from the US, there is a lot of excitement around Carissa Yip. Just 18, she is already the second best US women’s player. With an ELO rating of 2416, she is World No 5 (No 3 at the Olympiad) among girls 19 or below. So, it’s logical to see why there are high expectations. She herself has set a high bar. Grandmaster. Considering only 39 women have cleared that bar, it won’t be easy.
Which is fine because Yip doesn’t do easy. She likes to fight her way through adversity. It’s what she did days after a leaked US Supreme Court draft suggested that Roe vs Wade could be overturned (the original case legalised abortion in the US). On May 4, she joined a protest with friends with the banner ‘Hands off my rights’. In the days after the Supreme Court confirmed the leak with a formal judgment, she took to spreading information about crucial abortion resources.
“At some point, you need to spread information,” she tells this daily. “I think it’s very important to actively take a stance against something not just with your words but also with your actions. I think protesting is very important. Just like standing up, speaking out is very necessary, especially when you have the platform, in my opinion.”
While she doesn’t see herself as an activist — ‘I would say I deeply care about political and social issues’ is how she puts it — she is concerned about society. In the same month, she attended a public demonstration in Andover, Massachusetts, that called for the place to move away from fossil fuels.
It also comes through when she gives a detailed answer about her stance on access to abortion, an issue that’s polarised the US over the last few months. “The thing about Roe vs Wade being overturned essentially leaves abortion rights up to the states. It kind of looks like blue states, left-leaning states are going to keep abortion access. I live in Massachusetts (a blue state), so I would still have access to abortion. The problem with Roe vs Wade is it would limit access to underserved communities so minorities, poor communities would be in grave danger if anything were to happen. There are also a few states in the US that are very radical. For example, I know like a couple of states in which even a medical exemption wouldn’t be enough to get an abortion. I would say, for me personally, I’m very lucky to be in a privileged position but… The US are going down the wrong direction.”
The one direction she has no worries about is her fledgling chess career, even if she has had a rather tough Olympiad (two wins, three losses). “As you mentioned, it has been a tough few rounds for me,” the 18-year-old who’s originally from Chelmsford, Mass, says. “My first Olympiad, so I’ve been a bit nervous about it. In terms of my own chess, I would say very disappointed. But the tournament is long, I’m hoping something clicks soon.
“I think my progression generally in the last few years has been jagged lines. I think it makes sense to me. I have wanted to be a GM ever since I started playing. So, very much hoping to get that done at some point.”
She got into chess thanks to her school chess club. Her father, who didn’t play chess, actually taught himself how to play the game so he could teach his daughter. “I had a great support system where I grew up,” she says. “There were like three chess clubs. It’s not a centralised system but people were lovely. They are like a second family to me.”
Even if her stated aim is to become a GM, she does agree that sacrifices may have to be made. Especially now that she is joining Stanford this fall as a freshman. It’s why she calls herself a student first. “I’m a student. I just graduated high school. I’m going to Stanford. I’m not really a full-time chess player. We will see where chess goes in the next few years.
“For everything, you are going to have to make sacrifices. I have missed a few chess tournaments for school and I have missed a few days of school for chess tournaments. I would love to be like the top player in the US if I continue. But the future is up in the air right now. What I have been doing so far is taking things as I go. I’m hoping that I figure out what I want to do with my life.”
If she decides chess is going to be her life, you will hear more of her in the coming years.
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