Jason Liang (born February 7, 2007) is a National Master since 2018, a FIDE Master since 2019, and an International Master since 2021. In 2022, he received the Arthur Award for Chess Excellence from the Eade Foundation.
Liang played in his first chess tournament at age 9. In October 2016, he won the U1400 section of the Denver Chess Club Fall Classic with a perfect 5-0 score. [1] At age 10, Liang became a K-5 Scholastic Champion of the State of Virginia after scoring 5.5/6 and winning a tiebreak. In August 2017, he was clear 1st among all U1800 players of the 118th U.S. Open Chess Championship held in Norfolk, VA. [2] Liang was a member of the DMV Chess Club[3] and the Arlington Chess Club[4] in Virginia and became a National Master of U.S. Chess Federation at age 11.
Liang was the gold medalist of the U12 section at the North American Youth Chess Championship held in August 2019, Kingston Canada.[5] He was also a co-champion of the Barber National Tournament of Middle School State Champions held in August 2020.[6] Liang placed clear 1st of the U14 Section at the American Continental Selection of the 2020 FIDE World Youth Championship.[7] Liang has been part of the United States Chess Federation All-America Chess Team since 2020.[8][9][10] He also became the 143rd and 144th New York State Chess Champions after competing in 2021 and 2022 at Albany, New York.
Liang crossed FIDE 2400 at the 49th World Open held in Philadelphia on July 3, 2021. He earned his first IM norm after scoring 7/9 at the Montreal Winter Chess Classic in March 2020.[11] His second IM norm was achieved at the Charlotte Chess Center Summer IM Norm Invitational held in August 2020.[12] In December 2020, Liang secured his third IM norm by earning the silver medal at the North American Junior Chess Championship held in Charlotte, North Carolina.[13] In August 2021, Liang tied for first place in the Charlotte Chess Center's Summer GM Norm Invitational with a score of 5.5/9, tying with GM Tanguy Ringoir and IM Aleksandr Ostrovskiy and earning a fourth IM norm.
In April 2022, Liang secured his first GM norm in the New York City Grandmaster Norm Invitational with a score of 6.5/9, tying for first place with GM Vladimir Belous. In June 2022, he was clear 1st by scoring 6.5/9 in the Eastern Ontario Chess Championship GM Norm Section held in Ottawa.[14] In August 2022, Liang became a co-champion of Washington International after drawing GM elect Viktor Gazik and GM John M Burke.[15] In October 2022, he became a champion of the Canadian International Open held at Contrecoeur near Montreal. [16]
Liang graduated from the Belmont Station Elementary School in Ashburn VA receiving an Outstanding Academic Achievement Award from President Trump. He attended Trailside Middle School in Ashburn VA and AA Kingston Middle School in Potsdam NY. He is a current student of Potsdam High School.
Jason Liang's father, Chunlei Liang, is a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Clarkson University. Chunlei was a recipient of the prestigious Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) in 2019 from the White House.[17]