Before After

It took only three days for 卜祥志 (Bǔ Xiángzhì) to win the four days’ 2022 深圳 (Shēnzhèn) Grandmaster Chess Match against four-time Women’s World Chess Champion 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), who graciously agreed with the organisers and sponsors not to play tomorrow, thus sparing herself the obligation of staging a last gladiatorial game. But in spite of defeat, good can still be achieved. It was indeed the first classical chess performance of 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) in nearly two years, which means that she, at the modest price of 8.2 Elo points, conserved and confirmed the first place in the women’s world ranking list, about 40 points ahead of Russian Grandmaster Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina. It is no small thing for an University Professor who now devotes most of her time to teaching and/or to preparation for teaching. As for the match, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) expressed her regret of having made big mistakes in the last throes of the first two games, which otherwise should have been drawable. But as the clock ticked everything happened in a flash. On the other hand, “卜祥志 (Bǔ Xiángzhì)’s endgame technique is, grossly speaking, better than mine”, she said.