Life Is Not Easy

In the afternoon of Saturday, December 22, 2018 four-time Women’s World Chess Champion and Rhodes Scholar 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) held a class for young students at the 龙岗区青少年活动中心 (Lónggǎng District Youth Activity Centre) in 深圳 (Shēnzhèn), China. She first analysed some of her games, focusing particularly on one of her games from her match against Nigel David Short in 2016. She then dispensed her guidelines and advice, such as not to study opening moves by heart, but rather understand and master the geometry of the board. And finally, the most important advice of all: “Interest is the most important thing, so any training method should not be as excessive as to demotivate students. It’s not a mere matter of how many study hours are required. Everyone must find his own measure”. Photos: sznews.com.