Waverly Jong, daughter of Lindo Jong, is smart, conceited, and very competitive towards others, especially with a long time childhood friend, June Woo. Throughout her life, she has had a strained relationship with her mother, who is very picky and is never satisfied with what Waverly does. But even with this, Waverly is able to obtain secrets from her that help her become the person she was when she was little- a child prodigy. She obtains the ability to conceal her thoughts and to win strategically when going on chess championships, called the "invisible strength". She admits to having this trait, when saying "I could see things on the chessboard that other people could not. I could create barriers to protect myself that were invisible to my opponents." (Tan 170) As an adult, she has been very successful, landing at a well paid job of an attorney, and is to be married to a man she truly loves, Rich.
Q&A With Waverly Jong
1. Q- How did it feel to be featured on the Life Magazine, especially at a young age?
A- Honestly, that was one of the greatest moments of my life, up to this point. I knew i was a national chess champion, but I never would have imagined to be on this important magazine. I remember the day of the magazine shoot I had dressed up really nice, in a clean white dress, which I would only wear on special occasions, and my hair neatly plaited with braids. Yea, it was an opportunity I was given that will always remember.
2. Q- Why the sudden interest in chess?
A- (Laughs) I get what you mean. Uhm, I don't really know, it was just something I saw and i was out of nowhere intrigued. The first time I was opened to this was when my brother had received the set as a Christmas party from an old church we used to go to. Him and my other brother would play, and they wouldn't let me as I didn't know the rules. And so I would then go to the library and spend hours reading books on instructions on how to play. I the played with my brother, and ended up playing against others on tournaments.
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