Yuanling Yuan

Yuanling Yuan, 20, is the top female chess player in Canada.
Full name	Yuan Yuanling
Country	Canada
Born	Shanghai, China
Title	Woman International Master (WIM)
Peak rating	2270 (May 2015)

Yuanling Yuan (born June 1994, Shanghai, China) is a Canadian chess player.

Her family moved from Shanghai to Canada when Yuanling Yuan was five years old, and then in 2003 they moved from Ottawa to Toronto. Her father taught her to play chess. While in Ottawa she was playing for the RA Chess Club, but when she moved to Toronto she joined the Scarborough Chess Club. She attended Victoria Park Collegiate Institute, and is currently attending Yale University. At Yale, she is a student in Berkeley College.

Achievements

In 2003 Yuanling Yuan was already the Canadian Girl's Under-Ten Champion, qualifying her to become a Canadian Master in that age group. In 2007, as a seventh grader, she became the High School Champion of both Toronto and Ontario, as well as the Junior Champion of Toronto. She ended 2008 as the top rated Canadian female competitor after placing second behind Cuban Zirka Frometa Castillo at the Pan-American Women Championship in San Salvador. She has remained the top rated Canadian female competitor since, earning the distinction in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014.

As member of the Canadian National Women Team she played the 38th Chess Olympiad, 2008, in Dresden on second board (6.5 points out of 10 games), the 39th Chess Olympiad, 2010, in Khanty-Mansiysk on first board (7.5 points out of 11 games) and the 41st Chess Olympiad, 2014 in Tromsø on first board (7.5 points out of 11 games).

Yuanling Yuan, Women International Master, represents Canada on Board 1 at the 2014 World Chess Olympiad

In October, 2009 Yuanling Yuan was awarded the title of Woman International Master (WIM), and remains the youngest Canadian in history to gain this title. She met the norms at the Pan-American Women Championship in May 2008 with excellence as well as six weeks later at a tournament in Chicago. Her Elo rating of 2270 as of May 2015 was the highest that has ever been achieved by a Canadian woman.

Chess in the Library

In 2009 she founded the program Chess in the Library. This volunteer organization draws interest to chess in public libraries, including the opportunity to play and organize chess in libraries. The organization has more than 28 member libraries in Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia and Washington, D.C.

Entrepreneurship

In 2014, Yuanling founded the start-up SubLite LLC, a platform that assists with college students finding housing and internships.