After the school finished its chess sessions, Yu wanted to continue her interest and asked her parents to find a coach.
In 2014, Yu competed at the World Youth Chess Championships in Durban, South Africa in the Girls U12 section and took the gold medal.
[13][14] In 2021, Yu competed in the FIDE Women's World Cup, a 103-player single-elimination tournament that took place in Sochi, Russia.
Yu won the tournament after two rounds of tiebreakers, winning her first playoff against Suzuki and losing against Cervantes Laneiro.
[16] Yu won her second U.S. Women's Chess Championship in October 2022, defeating Irina Krush in a tiebreaker match.
By avoiding theory and playing a purely positional game, she easily builds a winning advantage; I expect Jennifer will be a force to reckon with in many future US Women's Championships.
[23] Finishing last with losses in all but one game, a draw against 4th place GM Andrew Tang,[24] Jennifer shared areas for improvement in her post-tournament interview, "My openings have been a problem for years and years…Also, I need to fix my time management.
As an example to further her point, she shared, "My situation in the hunt for the IM title also makes perfect sense because I have all three of my norms but have yet to cross the 2400 threshold.
To me, this means that I am capable of performing at IM-level strength in my best tournaments, making it possible to achieve the norms, but that I'm definitely a long road away from consistently playing at that level.
"[26] Her inconsistency and fighting spirit were again on full display in her tumultuous tournament victory in the 2022 U.S. Women's Chess Championship, where she finished tied for first on 9/13 with 8 wins, 3 losses, and 2 draws before three more decisive games in the tiebreaks crowned Jennifer Yu champion over Irina Krush.
[28] Yu graduated from Stone Bridge High School in Ashburn, Virginia and is currently attending Harvard University.