Check this kid out!
An 11-year-old girl from Colombia is living her American dream, becoming a chess queen on her way to attaining master status despite learning the game just this year.
Since arriving in New York City last October, Mariangel Vargas has competed in 50 tournaments around the state and racked up an international rating of 1,053, an impressive feat for a player of any age, according to coaches.
“My favorite part of chess is when I’m winning,” she told The Post in fluent English, a language she has picked up as quickly as she has the royal game.
Just over a year ago, armed men pulled Mariangel’s mom out of a taxi the family was traveling in and threatened to kill them if they didn’t flee Colombia.
They were targeted because they were doing legal work for those displaced in the armed conflict there.
The family traveled to Texas from Mexico on foot and were bused to NYC, where they have been living in a Midtown shelter.
Here, Mariangel fell in love with chess at PS 11 in Chelsea. She found refuge in the free, bilingual programs Russell Makofsky, founder of the Impact Coaching Network and the Gift of Chess, was offering to migrant students.
Mariangel received her first chess set from Makofky’s nonprofit, which aims to donate 1 million sets worldwide by 2030.
Mariangel now competes in weekly tournaments and practices with Mukofsky and Raydily Rosario, the program’s bilingual coach and the female chess champion of the Dominican Republic.
Mariangel often walks alone to practice from the shelter to St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Times Square — and never turns down an opportunity to play.
“I never played chess before but now I’m studying hard and preparing for championships,” the star sixth-grade student said.
When Mariangel is not doing homework, she is watching chess videos and playing the game on an app. Her dad will occasionally indulge her in a game but that’s no challenge. She’s about 20-2 over him, she estimates.
Her goal, in addition to becoming a surgeon, is to achieve grandmaster status by the age of 20, she said. For that, she would need a rating of at least 2500.
Mariangel said she is proud of her newest ranking and how far she has come in a year.
“It’s exciting for me because last year my rating was 600,” she said.
She plans to travel to Chicago in the spring for the All-Girls National Chess Championships. Her trip will be sponsored by Cristina Miller and Philip Hall, a NoMad couple whose kids also attended PS 11 and play chess.
“She deserves to be there,” said Miller. “Her hard work and dedication are just incredible and inspiring.”
Last month, Mariangel took seventh place among all girls her age in New York at a tournament in Manhattan. She set to rank among the top 60 11-year-old female chess players in the country.
Makofsky said he encourages the competition and rigor of the game.
“Chess without competition for kids is nothing,” he said, adding that he sees a bright future for Mariangel.
“You can teach focus but she had it on day one. She’s not impulsive. There’s a thoughtfulness when she plays,” he said.
“I think she could be a national champion — number one female in the country.”