Xiang ‘15 Wins First in Nat’l Chess Tournament

Upper Ellen Xiang recently won the 11th All Girls’ National Chess Championships in Northbrook, Illinois, securing a spot as one of the nation’s top young chess players.The tournament, which hosts the best 18-and-under female chess players from all over the nation, hosted 330 participants—a record high. The pool of competitors included four “experts”— a designation that includes the top 5 percent of all US Chess Federation (USCF) tournament chess players, and many other class A players. Xiang arrived at the competition with the third highest pre-tournament ranking.As expected, the unprecedented attendance and talent brought along intense competition, but that did not stop Xiang from obtaining the coveted position, defeating last year’s champion Anupama Rajendra, 14, of Wisconsin, in the final round.Xiang credited Exeter’s rigorous environment for her win. She said that although she hasn’t been able to practice as much here, the school has indirectly helped her to improve her game. “Being at Exeter, the workload has given me a sort of endurance or grit that has helped remain focused and driven through the tiring last couple hours of the games,” she said.Prep Evan Xiang, Ellen’s sister, agreed. “She is now definitely used to all the pressure and stamina needed for tournaments like these and those are important qualities she possesses over other players her age.”The schedule for the tournament was especially rigorous. Day two of the tournament involved playing three games in a row—around nine hours of playing in one day.Ellen Xiang also acknowledged chance as another component of her victory. "Although competition was stiff, I also think I got pretty lucky—there were quite a few upsets in the tournament,” she said.Lower Joe Bartkovich, a member of the Exeter Chess Club, felt that Xiang’s win was particularly admirable because of the number of competitors. “This achievement makes her the best female chess player under 18 years old in the country,” he said. “That is impressive because of the sheer size of the tournament, which featured the best female chess players under 18 from all of the US.”The skills and tactics that she used to win the competition did not come for free. In fact, it required Ellen hours of hard work and devotion to the game of chess. “Ellen is so talented because she has put her time and effort into this game for years on end and even here is a dedicated club head of not one, but two chess clubs, one for PEA students and another for teaching chess to children,” Bartkovich said.Upper Mark Oet, a co-head of Chess club, added, “Ellen is good because of natural talent and hard work. She takes initiative to improve herself constantly.”Since most participants of the competition were students that lived at home, Ellen Xiang’s ability to even partake in such a commitment was impressive in itself. “Just going to such an event while having to manage all her schoolwork as an upper was a really big burden she placed on herself, but her results really showed all her hard work and preparation,” Evan Xiang said.In addition to the excitement of winning a national championship in such an arduous situation, the success at the tournament has given Ellen Xiang a much needed mental boost. Over the summer, she participated in several competitions, but did not perform to the best of her abilities.“My problem was that I was too focused on winning and did not focus enough on playing the best moves in a certain position,” Ellen Xiang said. “What really makes me proud in this tournament was that it was a sort of mental victory. I went into the tournament with no thoughts of winning. Instead of thinking of the end result, I somehow got myself to focus game by game and move by move. I forced myself to not care about how other players might be doing and just do my best.”Moreover, the victory helped put Exeter on the radar for prospective students and chess on the radar for current Exonians. “Ellen helped bring Exeter to the attention of other chess players who have recently shown interest in attending school here,” Evan Xiang said. “Ellen's results show potential for greater recognition of chess here at Exeter as well."Bartkovich added, “It will usher in a new age of awareness on campus of our talented chess players."