In 2008, Yang finished third in a tie-breaker for the under-12 group in the World Youth Chess Championship.
This, along with Sam Shankland's identical result for the under-18 group, were top performances for American players.
[2] In April 2011, Yang earned the International Master title at the SPICE Spring Chess Invitational by defeating IM Marc Esserman.
[3] Yang had achieved all three IM norms in West Texas.
[6] From 2015 to 2019, Yang attended Harvard University for a bachelor's degree in economics and mathematical sciences.