Gong Qian Yun, Singapore's chess Woman Grandmaster (WGM), will be representing the country in chess at the SEA Games, happening at the end of this year in the Philippines.

The 34-year-old Singaporean will participate in the rapid chess category at the biennial event.

Gong is a five-time national champion of the Singapore Chess Championships (women's), winning the 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 events.

Awarded Woman Grandmaster title by World Chess Federation

Gong was awarded the WGM title by the World Chess Federation (FIDE) in 2018, the highest-ranking title in chess exclusive to women.

Before transferring to the Singapore Chess Federation in 2014, she was playing for the Chinese national team.

She has been playing chess since she was seven years old, and currently works as a chess teacher.

Gong is married with two children, and her husband also used to play competitive chess, according to an interview with chess author and coach Junior Tay.

Coach made her wash toilets if she didn't memorise gameplays

Gong mentioned in her interview that she had picked up chess randomly, as it was an extra-curricular activity in school in China.

The training she received in her early years mainly consisted of memorising classical games on a daily basis, and was punished by having to wash the toilets if she failed to memorise them correctly.

She said:

"When we failed to memorize correctly, we had to wash the toilet. Perhaps that’s why I was motivated to excel."

In preparation for the SEA Games, Gong has been running 5km for three to five times per week, to make sure that she has enough energy during her matches.

The 34-year-old said this about the game:

"People may think chess isn’t a sport because you only sit there and move pieces, but it’s a lot like boxing – just that you fight with your mind."

SEA Games 2019 held from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11

The 30th Southeast Asian Games held at the end of this year will consist of 529 events in 56 sports, the most ever held in the biennial event.

Besides chess, other non-physical sports held at this year's event include e-sports, which will feature video games such as Dota 2, Hearthstone, and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang.

Top image via Junior Tay, Chess-Boom