Jennifer Yu

You have to go back to 2018 to find a winner of the U.S. Women’s Chess Championship not named Carissa Yip, Jennifer Yu or Irina Krush. A graduate of Harvard University majoring in economics, Jennifer Yu won her first U.S. Women’s title in 2019 at the age of 17 with the impressive score of 10 from 11 and repeated her triumph in 2022.

Yu’s career has included a number of firsts. These include winning the 2014 World Girls Under 12 Championship, becoming the first American female to win a World Youth gold medal in 27 years. The following year she became the youngest player and first female to win the Virginia Closed Championship.

Yu made her debut playing for the U.S. national team at the 2017 Women’s World Team Championship and the following year was a member of Team USA in the Chess Olympiad where she won an individual bronze medal on the reserve board. She has the required three norms to become an International Master but needs to raise her rating to be awarded the title.

Yu has played well in 2026 and raised her FIDE rating over 60 points. Will she pick up her third title this year?