On August 16, four-time Women’s World Chess Champion and Rhodes Scholar 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) came to 龙岗区 (Lónggǎng District), 深圳书城 (Shēnzhèn Book City), to share her secrets with the public. |
深圳 (Shēnzhèn), China, August 16, 2020. There are 64 black and white squares on a chess board, but not even a king has enough grains to cover all 64 squares of the board, and that’s why players are so full of wisdom. On August 16, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), a
Rhodes Scholar and a four-time Women’s World Chess Champion, came to 龙岗区 (Lónggǎng District), 深圳书城 (Shēnzhèn Book City), to share her strategies and tactics and explore the mysteries of chess in an exclusive Q&A with admirers and students.
The symposium was organised by 龙岗区 (Lónggǎng District) Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau, and 龙岗区 (Lónggǎng District) Chess Association in collaboration with 深圳鹏城 (Shēnzhèn Péngchéng) Chess Club and 深圳书城 (Shēnzhèn Book City). It is the first of a series of meetings which 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) is proposing to hold in order to enrich the public cultural program of 龙岗区 (Lónggǎng District).
The class attracted a large number of auditors and students.
Unlike
when she spoke here more than a year ago, this time 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) shared more with everyone, answering one by one all the questions. Speaking softly, she finally summed up her experience amidst strategy and tactics in six “magic recipes”.
“Chess may also serve to cultivate children’s reverse thinking ability”, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) said, as basically the ultimate goal of a chess game is to checkmate the enemy King, which can be generally done by tactical means — that, however, spring from careful, deeply meditated plans. From a strategic point of view, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) focused on three key priorities: “gaining mastery by striking only after the enemy has struck”, “turning the weak into the strong”, and “making deadlock-free planning decisions”.
Group class photo. The teacher is the one with flowers in her hand.
“Imperfection is also a kind of perfection”, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) said, based on her own experience. “When I played professionally, I used to be a perfectionist. But then I discovered that the pursuit of perfection made me spend too much time in the first half of the game. Time is too late”. In 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)’s view, “There’s no best move, but only most suitable moves”. Thus players should make the most suitable moves within a limited time, based on the situation of the board and the characteristics of their opponents.
As for tactics, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) identified three key points, namely “play the board, not the opponent”, “prophylactic thinking” and “dynamic evaluation”, as an analytical mode to grasp the
fleeting moments of a game.
“When we play chess, we do our best to keep everything else off the board, including our opponent’s behaviour, and we do it with objectivity and concentration”. 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) recalled how in
a previous game with the World Chess Champion Carlsen of Norway, in awe of her opponent’s strength, at the critical juncture she had felt not confident enough to play her most ambitious move. Unfortunately, her advantage disappeared and she had to content herself with a draw. “Stay focused on your game, as only what happens on the board is real”.
侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) conducting a morning class for children.
侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) also believes that players should rely on prophylactic thinking, empathy, as well as on understanding their opponents’ strategy in order to prevent problems before they happen. At the same time, the dynamic assessment of the “Pawn promotion” and the vision of the bigger picture may enable one to seize the day with miraculous effect.
In the Q&A session, the young students asked questions and exchanged ideas with 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) about chess strategies. The atmosphere was warm and friendly. In the morning
侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) also held a charity class for young children in 龙岗区 (Lónggǎng District), showing and explaining basic chess strategy rules on the giant board.
(English translation by I, Robot)
