Alice Dong Research Paper

When people think of Alice Dong, they think about her success in chess as one of the top players in New Jersey as Tammy La Gorce writes in “A Chess Prodigy, a Mentor, and Still a Teenage Girl.” However, Alice did not have an easy journey to the top. Few times in her life (especially as a youngster), she thought about quitting because she “struggled with people thinking it was a nerd game, or too Asian” or when she lost to a four year old boy, Jeffery Xiong, now the second youngest chess grandmaster of all time (Gorce). Whatever the case, Alice has persevered and continued to play the game she loves. Reading this, I was able to connect with her in a sport different from chess but with similar stereotypes. When someone would ask me about the sports that I play, I would tell them, “I play golf.” Now this does not occur much in high school, but when I was young, mentioning golf would bring upon remarks involving old people and for non-athletic kids. Hearing this was depressing as golf was the sport that I loved and enjoyed playing. Nonetheless, I kept playing golf and played on the golf team in ninth grade. That’s when I found out that, unlike Alice, competitive golf was not right for me. Even though that is a difference between me and Alice, we both were able to overcome hindrances to play the thing we loved.

But working with them can be really satisfying” shows Alice’s passion to inspire and teach others in the sport she loves (Gorce). Alice also says, “It’s for them (the children) to get to know more than one person who female and plays chess. And to create bonds.” (Gorce). This line just explains how chess isn’t always about winning, but about the bonds and socialization that occurs between