Gong Qianyun (; born 11 March 1985) is a Singaporean

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

player and holds the title of Woman Grandmaster (WGM).

Chess career

Since Gong was seven year old, she started training in a chess academy in Guangdong, China.

2001 to 2009

Gong finished fourth in the 2001 Women's Chinese Chess Championship. Gong played on board four on the Chinese women's team — the only women's team present — at the

World Team Chess Championship The World Team Chess Championship is an international team chess event, eligible for the participation of 10 countries whose chess federations dominate their continent. It is played every two years. In chess, this tournament and the Chess Olympiads ...

held in

Beersheba Beersheba or Beer Sheva, officially Be'er-Sheva ( he, בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע, ''Bəʾēr Ševaʿ'', ; ar, بئر السبع, Biʾr as-Sabʿ, Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven), is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. ...

, Israel in 2005. The following year, she won the Women's World University Chess Championship in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

, Nigeria with a score of 7/9 points, contributing to China's team gold medal. After a series of defeat, Gong left the Chinese teams in 2007 and moved to Hong Kong where she taught chess there.

2009 to present

In 2009, Gong moved to Singapore to work as a chess coach. She won the Singaporean women's championships of 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. In 2014, Gong transferred to the

Singapore Chess Federation The Singapore Chess Federation ( Abbreviation: SCF) is the principal authority over all chess events in Singapore, and was founded in 1949 by Lim Kok Ann. Its promotion of the game has caused participation in its youth and interschool events, among ...

and started to represent Singapore. In the same year, she played for the Singaporean team on board three in the open section of the

41st Chess Olympiad The 41st Chess Olympiad ( no, Den 41. Sjakkolympiade), organised by the FIDE, Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took pla ...

and earned a

norm Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) and technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) consist of materials, usually industrial wastes or by-products enriched with radioactive elements found in the envir ...

for the title Woman Grandmaster thanks to a

performance rating The PR (Performance Rating, P-rating) system was a figure of merit developed by AMD, Cyrix, IBM Microelectronics and SGS-Thomson in the mid-1990s (Cyrix announced it in February 1996) as a method of comparing their x86 processors to those of ri ...

of 2412. In June 2018, Gong earned her final WGM norm at the QCD Prof Lim Kok Ann Invitational tournament and was awarded the title of Woman Grandmaster by

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...

. In December, she tied with

Padmini Rout Padmini Rout (born 5 January 1994) is an Indian chess player. She holds the titles of International Master (IM) and Woman Grandmaster (WGM). She is a four-time National Women's Premier title holder consecutively from 2014-2017 and was the Asian ...

for first place in the Asian Women's Continental Championship in

Makati Makati ( ), officially the City of Makati ( fil, Lungsod ng Makati), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. Makati is the financial center of the Philippines; it has the highest concentration ...

, Philippines, scoring 7/9 points. Gong took the silver medal on tiebreak score. In 2019, Gong took part in

2019 SEA Games The 2019 Southeast Asian Games, officially known as the 30th Southeast Asian Games, or the 30th SEA Games, and commonly known as Philippines 2019, was the 30th edition of the Southeast Asian Games, a biennial regional multi-sport event which ...

and won the women's rapid chess, beating nine other competitors to win Singapore's first gold medal in chess. The gold was also Singapore's 900th gold medal of the SEA Games. In 2024, Gong won the Gold medal in the Women's category of 2023-24

Commonwealth Chess Championship The Commonwealth Chess Championship is a gathering of chess players from Commonwealth countries. Winners : History A championship was planned for New Zealand in 1949, but it was canceled because the British Chess Federation was unable to attend ...

held at

Malacca Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site si ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. Gong plays for Qingdao Yucai

chess club A chess club is a club formed for the purpose of playing the board game of chess. Chess clubs often provide for both informal and tournament games and sometimes offer league play. Traditionally clubs host over the board, face to face chess more t ...

in the

China Chess League The China Chess League (CCL) () is a Chinese professional league for chess clubs. The league is organized by the Chinese Chess Association. It is sponsored by Youngor Group and was sponsored by the Shandongbr>Torch Real Estate Group(2005–2009 ...

(CCL).

Personal life

In 2012, Gong married her husband Tay Shi Hao. She also became a Singaporean citizen in the same year. The couple has two children.

References

External links

* * * (2001–2006) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gong, Qianyun 1985 births Living people People from Shaoguan Chess players from Guangdong Chess Woman Grandmasters Chinese female chess players Chinese chess players Singaporean chess players Chinese emigrants to Singapore Singaporean sportspeople of Chinese descent Chess players at the 2022 Asian Games Asian Games competitors for Singapore Competitors at the 2021 SEA Games SEA Games competitors for Singapore Chess Olympiad competitors