Life Lessons

Interviewed by Benjamin Bok after her victorious round of 16 in the 6th Online Women’s Speed Chess Championship “Julius Bär” Main Event, four-time Women’s World Champion 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) spoke at length of her missional life as an university professor and of how her life is still bounded to her young past. “Well, actually I still have a lot to do with chess, since in my University job chess is one of the main topics of my lectures, but not from a pragmatic professional perspective”, she said. “Basically it’s about talking chess as a selective course in the Physical Education and Research Department for all PKU undergraduate students. So such lectures are not meant to only focus on chess techniques but more importantly on chess as a discipline, on its cultural background and on any other meaning that goes beyond professionalism, similarly to all other academic disciplines. So we have to put efforts on projects, on writing essays. Also, I’m in charge of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Physical Education and Research Department, something like Internet communication or things like that — just trying to promote or enhance this kind of communication”.

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) showed no sign of tiredness while answering questions from the netizens. Screenshot from the live stream .