Tuesday, February 28, 2023

Screen Saver

In spite of her being a high-earning female gamer in esports, four-time Women’s World Chess Champion 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) still thinks that there are significant differences between online and offline chess: “Online competitions are more interactive or, so to say, entertaining and watchable, and the live broadcast is also very convenient, but they are not serious”, she said in an interview for 《人民电竞》 (People’s Esports). “Nothing of that is comparable to the feeling of a game OTB (over the board). If I participate in an online event, that is more from the perspective of promotion and popularisation; high-profile competitions such as International Youth Championships, Olympiads, etc., must still be held offline”.
And yet, for her, she being almost totally absorbed in her university teaching career, the online gaming world has represented a possible thread to her lost but not yet lost realm. That is to say that, after having been a flourishing semi-professional in her chess career OTB, nevertheless she is also a proud “woman in ecareer” in her amateur Internet time, with a gain so far of $53,844.33 USD.
So, just be open and don’t place limits on providence, as chess and esports will be two of the disciplines in the upcoming 19th Asian Games at 杭州 (Hángzhōu) (September 23 – October 8, 2023), thus leaving our heroine the choice of how and where to sit and perform.

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) starring as herself in a short propaganda film released by Blizzard Entertainment for its 2021 Hearthstone Global Inn-Vitational.

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