Young champion takes time with her moves
Karen Kwok, China Daily European Weekly, November 13, 2015, p. 29
She is ranked among world’s best chess players, but Chinese student is staying modest
When 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) won the women’s World Chess Championship at the age of 16, she became the youngest competitor to do so. That was in 2010, and in August last year she made it into the rankings of the top 100 players of the World Chess Federation, the only woman on the list.
But 侯 (Hóu), of 江苏省 (Jiāngsū province), appears not to have let such success go to her head, and in fact in an interview with China Daily the 21-year-old seemed nonchalant about it all.
Karen Kwok, China Daily European Weekly, November 13, 2015, p. 29
She is ranked among world’s best chess players, but Chinese student is staying modest
When 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) won the women’s World Chess Championship at the age of 16, she became the youngest competitor to do so. That was in 2010, and in August last year she made it into the rankings of the top 100 players of the World Chess Federation, the only woman on the list.
But 侯 (Hóu), of 江苏省 (Jiāngsū province), appears not to have let such success go to her head, and in fact in an interview with China Daily the 21-year-old seemed nonchalant about it all.
侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) from China is the only woman in the world top 100 chess grandmasters list. Provided to China Daily. |
“Although I am ranked in the top 100 players, I still have a huge gap to fill when compared with the top 10 or top 20”, 侯 (Hóu) says.
“I hope that I can improve gradually with the current pace. But for now it’s nothing special”.
侯 (Hóu) says she is keen to promote chess and encourage more women to play. But she has no grand strategy for making that happen, which reflects her beginnings in chess. She started playing when she was 5, she says, quickly discovering that she seemed to have a natural talent for the game, and graduated to international class “by instinct”.
“When I was 5 my parents wanted me to work on all kinds of mind games, so they took me to the children’s palace, where I first saw international chess. I was attracted by the shape of the pieces, and I decided to take it up”.
She says she thinks of herself as being not particularly organized, she says, and does not push herself to practice every day.
“Preparation is not a priority for me. I only practice when I want to. In the past I might have played chess a couple of hours a day except at the weekend. But now the time is very random because I’m studying”.
When 侯 (Hóu) was 7, she had lessons at a chess club in 山东省 (Shāndōng province), where she met her first coach, one of the top players in China. She improved significantly and after she became a member of the national team, more coaches were on hand to help enhance her skills.
“I was very lucky to get good training when I was young. They provided me with a lot of opportunity to practice. They also used lots of interesting stories or examples from their previous competition to explain the game. As I grew older I got less training”.
Studying international relations at Peking University, it is hard for her to practice chess every day or prepare for matches, especially when there is course work to do or exams loom. She mostly practices on her own, she says.
“If I have nothing serious to do I will play chess for sure, but it’s not as though I’m constantly surrounded by chess; there’s more to me than that”.
侯 (Hóu) says she usually practices for a month for world championships and for invitation games, just a few days if time does not allow. There is no right way of learning the game, she says.
“Even when there are only five or six pieces left on the board, you cannot calculate all the variations. Chess is a sport where you need to adapt a mixture of practice and theory without too much analysis and fundamental theories.
Injecting some variation in your mind can help save you time during the game, but memorizing all of them cannot help improve one’s chess skills.
Controlling the time you practice is very important. Chess is also a mind sport that consumes a lot of energy. It requires you to rest more to recover. You shouldn’t overdo it”.
侯 (Hóu) was in London not only to play chess but to join a conversation hosted by China Exchange, a charity that promotes cultural exchanges between China and the UK.
“The UK has a very good chess atmosphere, not only for professional players. Almost everybody can play and talk about international chess”.
She is keen on encouraging more girls and women to play the game, she says, and things are beginning to change, in China and elsewhere.
“In China the situation has improved”.
Many of the country’s top universities are ivolved in the game, and recently there was a chess competition between colleges, she says.
“Chess is going into the world of students. It’s important to the educational world”.
For 侯 (Hóu), chess is not only a sport but also a tool for learning to communicate and an effective way of enhancing friendships.
“In universities around the world, many people can play chess. My friends from the chess world are not only from China. Sometimes we play chess for fun; we just enjoy it”.
Chess also gives her the chance to travel around the world when she is competing in international tournaments, she says.
“It allows me to meet locals and understand their culture. It’s amazing and is one of the best things about playing in international chess tournaments”.
But 侯 (Hóu) does not encourage children in China to see chess games as a way to get a better life or to achieve success.
“You should follow your heart and your interests, just like other aspects in your life. Winning is not really my main concern. I enjoy the process of the game. Some of chess moves and strategies can really help you understand life better. For example, the pawn can only move forward. It's like you need to perform the best in every step of your life because you cannot regret things and go backward.
Chess also teaches you not to give up easily. Persistence is very important when you are participating in a world tournament that can last for six to seven hours each game. You need to fight to the end”.
侯 (Hóu) has strong views on the ability of males and females to play the game.
“The truth is that men play better than women, as you might notice that of the top 100, most are men. Men perform better than women, just like in most of the physical sports in the world”.
Men have more stamina than women, she says.
“You should have a clear mind throughout the game, so you can find the right move immediately even under the pressure of time. But if you are exhausted you cannot concentrate and react quickly”.
Many of the country’s top universities are ivolved in the game, and recently there was a chess competition between colleges, she says.
However, Christer Gerdes, an analyst of chess players’ behavior across gender at Stockholm University, says he doubts that physical strength is significant in playing chess.
“I think there are other aspects that play a major role other than the physical, not least the environment a person is born into and self-fulfilling expectations. If women had the same kind of encouragement to engage and develop their talents we would see many more female chess players in the world elite”.
“I hope that I can improve gradually with the current pace. But for now it’s nothing special”.
侯 (Hóu) says she is keen to promote chess and encourage more women to play. But she has no grand strategy for making that happen, which reflects her beginnings in chess. She started playing when she was 5, she says, quickly discovering that she seemed to have a natural talent for the game, and graduated to international class “by instinct”.
“When I was 5 my parents wanted me to work on all kinds of mind games, so they took me to the children’s palace, where I first saw international chess. I was attracted by the shape of the pieces, and I decided to take it up”.
She says she thinks of herself as being not particularly organized, she says, and does not push herself to practice every day.
“Preparation is not a priority for me. I only practice when I want to. In the past I might have played chess a couple of hours a day except at the weekend. But now the time is very random because I’m studying”.
When 侯 (Hóu) was 7, she had lessons at a chess club in 山东省 (Shāndōng province), where she met her first coach, one of the top players in China. She improved significantly and after she became a member of the national team, more coaches were on hand to help enhance her skills.
“I was very lucky to get good training when I was young. They provided me with a lot of opportunity to practice. They also used lots of interesting stories or examples from their previous competition to explain the game. As I grew older I got less training”.
Studying international relations at Peking University, it is hard for her to practice chess every day or prepare for matches, especially when there is course work to do or exams loom. She mostly practices on her own, she says.
“If I have nothing serious to do I will play chess for sure, but it’s not as though I’m constantly surrounded by chess; there’s more to me than that”.
侯 (Hóu) says she usually practices for a month for world championships and for invitation games, just a few days if time does not allow. There is no right way of learning the game, she says.
“Even when there are only five or six pieces left on the board, you cannot calculate all the variations. Chess is a sport where you need to adapt a mixture of practice and theory without too much analysis and fundamental theories.
Injecting some variation in your mind can help save you time during the game, but memorizing all of them cannot help improve one’s chess skills.
Controlling the time you practice is very important. Chess is also a mind sport that consumes a lot of energy. It requires you to rest more to recover. You shouldn’t overdo it”.
侯 (Hóu) was in London not only to play chess but to join a conversation hosted by China Exchange, a charity that promotes cultural exchanges between China and the UK.
“The UK has a very good chess atmosphere, not only for professional players. Almost everybody can play and talk about international chess”.
She is keen on encouraging more girls and women to play the game, she says, and things are beginning to change, in China and elsewhere.
“In China the situation has improved”.
Many of the country’s top universities are ivolved in the game, and recently there was a chess competition between colleges, she says.
“Chess is going into the world of students. It’s important to the educational world”.
For 侯 (Hóu), chess is not only a sport but also a tool for learning to communicate and an effective way of enhancing friendships.
“In universities around the world, many people can play chess. My friends from the chess world are not only from China. Sometimes we play chess for fun; we just enjoy it”.
Chess also gives her the chance to travel around the world when she is competing in international tournaments, she says.
“It allows me to meet locals and understand their culture. It’s amazing and is one of the best things about playing in international chess tournaments”.
But 侯 (Hóu) does not encourage children in China to see chess games as a way to get a better life or to achieve success.
“You should follow your heart and your interests, just like other aspects in your life. Winning is not really my main concern. I enjoy the process of the game. Some of chess moves and strategies can really help you understand life better. For example, the pawn can only move forward. It's like you need to perform the best in every step of your life because you cannot regret things and go backward.
Chess also teaches you not to give up easily. Persistence is very important when you are participating in a world tournament that can last for six to seven hours each game. You need to fight to the end”.
侯 (Hóu) has strong views on the ability of males and females to play the game.
“The truth is that men play better than women, as you might notice that of the top 100, most are men. Men perform better than women, just like in most of the physical sports in the world”.
Men have more stamina than women, she says.
“You should have a clear mind throughout the game, so you can find the right move immediately even under the pressure of time. But if you are exhausted you cannot concentrate and react quickly”.
Many of the country’s top universities are ivolved in the game, and recently there was a chess competition between colleges, she says.
However, Christer Gerdes, an analyst of chess players’ behavior across gender at Stockholm University, says he doubts that physical strength is significant in playing chess.
“I think there are other aspects that play a major role other than the physical, not least the environment a person is born into and self-fulfilling expectations. If women had the same kind of encouragement to engage and develop their talents we would see many more female chess players in the world elite”.
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