Lectures on Metaphysics

On the occasion of her lectio magistralis at the Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU), four-time Women’s World Chess Champion and Rhodes Scholar 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) recounted to her audience that she used to combine chess training and school study since she was 10 years old. “I never wanted to sacrifice my school studies, and I always took care to manage my time. Usually, I’ve been devoting to chess 5 hours each day, with peaks of 8–9 hours before important dates”, she said. 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) does not apparently share Morphy’s belief that “the time devoted to chess is literally frittered away” — as she thinks that chess may help in understanding human life well beyond the board. The word of Goddess is not bound. Photos credit: FEFU press office.