By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

Sheena Zeng on paper is not your typical 14-year-old.

In April, Zeng, of Hays, won a national chess championship in her age class—14 and younger. She also was recently admitted to the prestigious Kansas Academy of Math and Science program.

Students in the residential program on the Fort Hays State University campus, which is also known as KAMS, study at an advanced level and earn both their high school diplomas and 68 hours of college credit.

The program usually admits older students (sophomores who are entering their junior year in high school), but Zeng, whose peers are in the eighth-grade, has already completed her sophomore year of high school at Thomas More Prep-Marian and was admitted early. She skipped second and sixth grades.

She may be a whiz kid on paper, but Sheena says she is like most other kids.

Although she devotes a lot of time to studying and chess, she also spends her free time doing fun things, such as watching anime, listening to music (especially K-Pop. Her favorite bands are BTS, 2NE1 and Red Velvet), and hanging out with friends. 

She also plays the piano and likes to write fantasy fiction. Her characters often have magical powers. She loves to read and is a big fan of Harry Potter and the Percy Jackson series, as well as a book called “The City of Brass.”

Sheena does not think of herself as a genius or prodigy. She sees herself as someone who works hard.

“People sometimes think that everything is really easy for me in school. ‘Yeah, Sheena this is really easy for you, so you won’t understand how we feel.’ It is hard for me to maintain my good grades and stay on top of things, but I guess I do it well enough that people don’t think that it is difficult for me.

“They all think I am some sort of super genius, but I’m not. I just sort of enjoy learning and working hard for what I have. I wasn’t necessarily born really, really intelligent.”

At one point Sheena said she wanted to be a doctor, but after taking biology, she said she may change her emphasis to biochemistry. She hopes to attend John Hopkins University after completing her studies at FHSU.

Sheena learned to play chess from her father, Hong Biao Zeng, when she was 7. A chess board still inhabits a prominent spot in the family’s living room. However, because of her family’s busy schedules, Sheena mostly plays online these days. She also spends hours studying chess theory and solving online chess puzzles.

“I like thinking through the positions and finding ways to solve all my problems,” she said. “I just like thinking during the games.”

Sheena has competed internationally, including in Canada, South Africa and Costa Rica and will attend the World Youth Chess Championship in Greece in October. She tied for first place in the Pan-American Chess Championship in Costa Rica last year, ultimately taking home a second-place trophy on a tie break. Sheena is in the top five for her age group nationally. On the world stage, she is a women’s candidate master.

She said her latest title was special.

“It felt really special when I was winning it. The second I knew I was the champion, I just felt really relieved and happy because I never won before. I was always second or lower, but never first. It felt good to finally win first place.”

Competitive chess can be stressful. Sheena described it as a test of your mental strength and stamina. Some games can go as long as six hours.

“Playing in competitions is stressful, especially when you are expected to do well, but once I get into it, it is a little bit more fun. It also feels good when you win,” she said.

Sheena definitely has some wins under her belt. Besides her recent national championship, she also has two second-place national trophies for girls 12 and younger and a third-place national trophy for girls 10 and younger at the All-Girls Nationals in Chicago.

Her long-term chess goal is to be ranked among the top 100 in the world.

Sheena wants to let other kids know chess can be fun. She started a chess club at O’Loughlin Elementary School. She volunteers regularly with children in first through fourth grades.

“I wanted to spread chess around Hays in general,” she said. “Not many people are aware of chess. O’Loughlin is where I used to go to elementary school. There wasn’t a chess club or anything, and I always wished I had teammates to play with, so I thought I could start a club so they could play with each other and play chess as a team instead of just individually.”

Sheena said she enjoyed working with the younger children.

“Yeah, it’s fun,” she said. “I have learned a lot working with them, but sometimes they don’t listen to me, so that is hard too.”

Sheena encouraged other kids to give chess a try.

“It is very challenging, but the benefits such as better problem-solving skills and that kind of stuff are worth it as well.”

Sheena’s next step academically will be to start the KAMS program in the fall.

“Sometimes I am really excited, and sometimes I get nervous,” she said “I think, ‘Oh no, what if everyone there is smarter than me? What if they know more than I do? But I guess that is more motivation for me to work harder.”

Sheena’s mother, Michelle, said she thinks Sheena is ready for the next step at KAMS.

“She likes a challenge,” her mother said. “She is going to be going to college pretty young—at least two years younger than her peers, so this KAMS will really prepare her for that.”