Chess in China

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about "international chess" (国际象棋; guoji xiangqi) in China. For "Chinese chess", see Xiangqi.

China is now a chess superpower and proved so graphically at the 2006 37th Chess Olympiad in Turin when the men's team came second and the women's team third for easily the best result overall. The Chinese progress has been underpinned by large government support and testing competition in numerous tough events. Commensurate with its status, China currently has five top hundred players. However, even today countries like Russia, Ukraine, Germany and Israel still have an edge in experience over their Chinese counterparts.

Contents

[edit] Governing body

The national governing body for chess is the Chinese Chess Association, which runs the country's premier chess training academy, the National Chess Center in Beijing. (See Chess Centres.)

[edit] National league

Main article: China Chess League

[edit] Future events

  • The World Mind Sports Games will take place in Beijing, China after the Summer Olympics in 3 - 18 October 2008 [2]. Twenty five to thirty gold medals will be vied for an estimated 2000 competitors from 150 countries. There will be at least five mind sports, being Chess, Bridge, Go, Draughts and Chinese Chess. The Games will be under the aegis of GAISF and organized by the International Mind Sports Association (IMSA) of which FIDE is a founding member. For chess players, there will be competitions of Rapid and Blitz chess for individuals, pairs and teams. The Individual will be limited to 50 players, men and women. In the pairs event, teams of one man and one woman from each federation will participate, maximum 50 teams. In the teams events, maximum of 80 men's teams and 50 women's teams will be invited with teams of 4 players plus one reserve. It is expected that all the sports from each country will have a unified dress code. Altogether 10 gold medals will be available for chess plus a trophy for the leading federation over all chess disciplines.

[edit] National team fixtures

Team summit matches:

  • v Russia, September 17-26, 2008 in Ningbo
  • v Germany, November 6-11, 2008 in Germany

Olympiad:

[edit] Early history

See also: Chess#History and Origins of chess

Though the exact origins of chess is uncertain, it is traditionally thought that the game was probably first played in ancient India, where it was known as chaturanga, then spread east to China and west to Persia. The earliest documentary references are in Persian and Chinese texts in c. 600 CE. A Chinese bibliography of that date includes books on chess, and a 10th century Chinese encyclopedia dates it to 568.[1] There is evidence that the earliest chess game was invented in China in 204-203 BCE. by Han Xin, a military leader, supposedly to give his troops something to do during a winter encampment.[2]

Another theory, championed by David H. Li, contends that chess arose from the game xiangqi, or at least a predecessor thereof, existing in China since the 2nd century BCE.[3]

[edit] Modern history

There are three forms of board games which are being played regularly in China (see also Chess variant for others). Weiqi (Go) originated in China for several centuries. Weiqi became popular only when Chen Zude became the first Chinese to defeat a top Japanese Grandmaster 20 years ago (as Japan had dominated the game for much of the 20th century). Today, Weiqi is the most popular board game among the Chinese and several of such competitions offer very attractive prize money. Xiangqi (Chinese Chess), which also originated in China is also very popular. The modern game of Chess itself was only introduced in China during the 19th century but has never been as popular as Weiqi nor Xiangqi.

Alexander Alekhine was the first great chess player to visit China in 1933. In an exhibition played in Shanghai, he was held to two draws, one to Xie Xiashun, nick-named "Centurian chess king" because at 100 years old, he was a strong player in all the three forms of chess. Xie, not related to former women's world champion Xie Jun, helped to promote the game and was the top player in China after the 2nd World War. In 1935, he visited Malaya and Singapore and defeated their champion as well as the British Air Forces champion Hunter. In 1936, in Guangzhou, the British sponsored a tournament with top players from Austria, Britain, China, Germany and the United States. Xie won the tournament convincingly by drawing one and winning the other 18 games. In 1987, Xie (who lived in Wenzhou) died at the age of 101.

Chess was not listed as a competitive sport in China until 1956. The Chess Association of China was formed in 1962 as a minor affiliate of the Chinese Xiangqi Association due to the lack of popularity for the game at the time and only became a fully-fledged independent organization in 1986. It has been only in the last 30 or so years that chess has made major inroads in China, where the game is seen as the poorer cousin of the more popular Xiangqi. Chess was banned during the first eight years of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), but by 1974 there was an easing of the ban that saw China begin to participate in international competitions, the first being in 1976.

In 1974, at the invitation of the Malaysian business tycoon Dato Tan Chin Nam, then President of the reorganized Malaysian Chess Federation, China was invited to attend the 1st Asian Team Championship with observer status. It was also in 1974 that China held its first National Championship tournament. The first international tournament ever held in China was in 1980.

In 1975, Dato Tan Chin Nam decided that chess in China had enormous potential, and set-up the "Big Dragon Project"; the aim being to see China dominate the chess world by 2010. He said, "I am behind the cause of chess in China for my whole lifetime. And after me, my children will carry on."[4] China now holds every title in the women's game, and are now starting to make progress in the much tougher men's game. Dato Tan Chin Nam also founded the Tan Chin Nam Cup in China - a competition that sees top GMs from Eastern Europe meeting Chinese players.[5]

Also in 1975, the Chinese Chess Association officially joined FIDE. China came second in the next Asian Team Championship held in Auckland, New Zealand in 1977. China was second again in the next two editions in Singapore in 1979 and in China in 1981. China won the series for the first time in 1983 in India, and won the inaugural women's event in Singapore in 1995.

China has taken part in the Chess Olympiads since 1978, the first in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was here that the Chinese soon put themselves on the map when one of their players, Liu Wenzhe, rated a mere 2200, defeated in spectacular style with a stunning queen sacrifice a top western grandmaster, the hapless Jan Hein Donner of The Netherlands, in just 20 moves. Since then, China has made rapid progress with the women's team taking the bronze medal and the men's team coming sixth at the 1990 Olympiad, and a few days later, China was eventually awarded the special status of "one-zone federation" (3.5). China's women went on to retain their position in the next two Olympiads and in 1996 won the silver medals. Meanwhile, the men's team never have ranked below 15th place.

Further information: China at the Chess Olympiads

Chess became far more popular as a result of Xie Jun becoming the women's world champion in 1991. After retaining her title match in 1993, interest in Chess was raised even further with an estimated one million chess players in China.

Officials of the Chinese Chess Association have been appointed by the National Sports Committee which also provides funding. The three forms of chess share a common headquarters called QiYuan (Chess Academy) normally with a dormitory with twin-sharing rooms on the top floor. The three respective national chess associations operate in China QiYuan situated in Beijing, while Beijing has its own (local) Beijing QiYuan. Similar structures were also setup in most major cities and today, there are more than 30 Qiyuans in China. At these Qiyuans, the paid officials run their day to day affairs and trainers conduct chess classes. Each QiYuan has its own management committee. At the (National) China QiYuan, the Chairman is Chen Zude who is also the President of the Chinese Chess Association. Every QiYuan had been allocated state subsidies to the three forms of chess. Since the restructuring of the Chinese government in May 1998, sports had to fund themselves by 2001. During the three year transition period, funding from the government was reduced by 30% each year.

Fortunately for the Chinese Chess Association, in 1993, it received an endowment fund from Singapore businessman S T Lee who donated about US $1.5 million. 10% of this donation was for the establishment of the Chess library at China QiYuan. The remaining 90% were deposited in a fixed account from which the Chinese Chess Association drew interest mainly for its administrative operations and to send players for overseas competitions. In 1997, the Chinese Chess Association founded a computer company to fund its other activities on an annual basis.

Decision making is done collectively and any final decision is only taken after thorough discussion and more important ones are referred to the Sports Committee. Since May 1998, all Qiyuans have been autonomous from China QiYuan but still they cooperate like one organization.

Another major benefactor was Prof Lim Kok Ann (1920-2003) who managed to move sponsors into investing in chess in China via the creation of the Dato Tan Chin Nam and ST Lee Cup tournaments. He was most helpful to the Chinese women talents; opening doors for their participation in tournaments in Europe with the aim of seeing the Chinese attain world-class standards. His and others' efforts helped, in part, contribute to the creation of two Women's World Champions, Xie Jun (1991–1996, 1999–2001) and Zhu Chen (2001–2004) (ref.).

Further information: Women's World Chess Championship

The first visit of world champion Anatoly Karpov in August 1997 boosted the popularity of Chess further. During this visit, Karpov played 3 exhibitions in Beijing which were broadcast live on television. He also appeared for a one-hour talk show viewed live on prime time slot during the most popular TV program in China. His visit was widely publicized across China and because of his unusual popularity, he was invited by the government to another visit in May 1998.

Karpov's second visit took him to Beijing, Shenyang, Shanghai and Guangzhou – 4 of 5 largest cities in China. He also took the opportunity to launch the Chinese edition of his book "Disney's Guide to Chess" and appeared to autograph his books at major bookstores in each city he visited. There were 20,000 copies for the first printing and more than half were sold within one week of his visit. Karpov played a total of 5 exhibitions and once again, the immense publicity raised the interest of Chess to another level.

At present, in terms of media publicity, Chess is ahead followed by Weiqi and then Xiangqi. In terms of playing interest, Weiqi still commands the lead followed by Chess and Xiangqi but it has been estimated that 10 million people have learnt to play chess by 2000. On a site inspection visit by Tang Kum-Foo and Ignatius Leong from Intchess Asia in February 1998, among 5 cities they visited was Wenzhou, a commercial seaport on the eastern coast. There they were invited to 3 kindergartens and witnessed about 2,200 children playing Chess in classrooms. All the teachers there knew and taught the game to the children. China's first men's Grandmaster Ye Rongguang and female Grandmaster Zhu Chen come from Wenzhou. Based on statistical criteria, Wenzhou is the only city awarded the status of "Chess City" by China QiYuan.

There are more than 1,000 Chess trainers in China and about 300 professionals. The Beijing City Center Youth Championships held in August 1998, saw 574 children contesting the age-group championships; 233 for Chess, 187 for Xiangqi and 154 in Weiqi.

In 1981, China organized the Asian Team Championship in Hangzhou. In 1990, China hosted the second part of the Women's Candidates Final Match between Yugoslav Grandmaster Alisa Maric and GM Xie Jun. The 1993 Women's Candidates Tournament won by Hungarian Grandmaster Zsuzsa Polgar was played in China. In recent years, were the S T Lee Beijing International Open and the Dato Tan Chin Nam Invitational Tournaments.

In 1998, the controversial Women's Candidates Final Match between Russian Grandmaster Alisa Galliamova and GM Xie Jun in August and the first ever Asian Chess Open were held in Shenyang. The registration of Galliamova and her subsequent non-appearance for the match had been a talking point among the Chinese people and a daily forum in the press.

For September 1999, in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the People's Republic of China, the city of Shenyang had won the right over international cities to host the second edition of the World Cities Team Championship. An industrial town with a population of 6.5 million people, Shenyang hosted the Asian Sports Festival which included 30 non-Olympic sports and Chess. About 1,500 participants from 40 countries took part in the 2-week Festival. In 2000, Shenyang unveiled the largest regional QiYuan in China with space to hold 1,000 players, estimated to have cost US $25million.

Following the World Cities Team Championship, Shenyang hosted the 1st FIDE World Cup (won by Viswanathan Anand and Xu Yuhua in the men's and women's section, respectively) and the Shenyang Open Tournament. Four Grandmaster Tournaments were held in other cities. Shenyang also organized the Asian Team Championship, the S T Lee International Open, the Tan Chin Nam Cup Grandmaster Tournament and two more Grandmaster Tournaments have been regularly held in other cities.

[edit] Results

Main article: China national chess team results

[edit] Statistics

Below statistics is valid for active players only:

[edit] Records

[edit] Strength

[edit] World Champions

Xu Yuhua has been FIDE Women's World Champion since 2006. Previously there were two Chinese players who have been Women's World Champion, Zhu Chen (2001–2004) and Xie Jun (twice: 1991–1996; 1999–2001).

[edit] Highest rated player

The strongest ranked Chinese player is 22-year-old Bu Xiangzhi, ranked 21st in the world. The strength of Chinese chess lies in a solid base of young, lesser-known masters.

[edit] Average national rating

Chinese players have the highest average rating of any nation on the most recent FIDE list. Their 330 players average 2245.

[edit] World Top Lists

Three of the world's top players under age 20 are Chinese. Five of the world's twenty highest-rated girls are Chinese.

[edit] GM and WGM Titles

China has produced 22 Grandmasters and 16 Woman Grandmasters in total.

Grandmaster-titled players
Name Birth date Sex Year GM title earned Activity Rating (most recent) Notes
Bu Xiangzhi 1985.12.10 M 1999 Active 2708 See Chess prodigy
Li Chao 1989.04.21 M 2007 Active 2581
Li Shilong 1977.08.10 M 2002 Active 2512
Liang Chong 1980.01.29 M 2004 Active 2484
Liang Jinrong 1960.05.21 M 1999 Active 2476
Ni Hua 1983.05.31 M 2003 Active 2703
Peng Xiaomin 1973.04.08 M 1997 Active 2590
Wang Hao 1989.08.04 M 2005 Active 2684
Wang Yue 1987.03.31 M 2004 Active 2689
Wang Zili 1968.06.14 M 1995 Inactive 2501
Wen Yang 1988.07.07 M 2008 Active 2497
Wu Wenjin 1976.03.10 M 2000 Active 2442
Xie Jun 1970.10.30 F 1991 Active 2574 Achieved GM title by becoming Women's World Champion
Xu Jun 1962.09.17 M 1994 Active 2534
Xu Yuhua 1976.10.29 F 2006 Active 2500 Achieved GM title by becoming Women's World Champion; also has WGM title
Ye Jiangchuan 1960.11.20 M 1993 Active 2612
Ye Rongguang 1963.10.03 M 1990 Inactive 2461
Yu Shaoteng 1979.03.26 M 2004 Active 2505
Zhang Pengxiang 1980.06.29 M 2001 Active 2640
Zhang Zhong 1978.09.05 M 1998 Active 2617 Now plays for Singapore (2006-)
Zhao Jun 1986.12.12 M 2004 Active 2566
Zhou Jianchao 1988.06.11 M 2006 Active 2580
Woman Grandmaster-titled players
Name Birth date Year WGM title earned Activity Rating (most recent) Notes
Gu Xiaobing 1985.07.12 2003 Active 2225
Hou Yifan 1994.02.27 2007 Active 2549
Huang Qian 1986.07.18 2008 Active 2438
Li Ruofan 1978.04.30  ? Active 2423 Now plays for Singapore (2006-)
Liu Shilan 1985.01.24  ? Inactive 2359
Ning Chunhong 1968.01.21  ? Active 2362
Qin Kanying 1974.02.02  ? Inactive 2465
Ruan Lufei 1987.10.02 2007 Active 2495
Shen Yang 1989.01.23 2006 Active 2439
Tian Tian 1983.03.25 2002 Active 2268
Wang Lei 1975.02.04  ? Inactive 2484
Wang Pin 1974.12.11  ? Active 2415
Wu Mingqian 1961.01.08  ? Inactive 2175
Xu Yuanyuan 1981.03.08  ? Inactive 2322
Zhang Jilin 1986.06.24 2007 Active 2361
Zhao Xue 1985.04.06  ? Active 2523

[edit] Active players

This is a list of Chinese GM chess title-holders (active players only), as of January 2008. The list is maintained by FIDE, the international governing body of chess.

See also Category:Chinese chess players.

[edit] Grand Master (GM)

* The players in bold typeface are the top 10.

  1. Bu Xiangzhi (2708)
  2. Ni Hua (2703)
  3. Wang Yue (2689)
  4. Wang Hao (2684)
  5. Zhang Pengxiang (2640)
  6. Ye Jiangchuan (2612)
  7. Peng Xiaomin (2590)
  8. Li Chao (2581)
  9. Zhou Jianchao (2580)
  10. Xie Jun (2574)
  11. Zhao Jun (2566)
  12. Xu Jun (2534)
  13. Li Shilong (2512)
  14. Yu Shaoteng (2505)
  15. Xu Yuhua (2500)
  16. Wen Yang (2497)
  17. Liang Chong (2484)
  18. Liang Jinrong (2476)
  19. Wu Wenjin (2442)

[edit] Woman Grand Master (WGM)

  1. Hou Yifan (2549)
  2. Zhao Xue (2523)
  3. Ruan Lufei (2495)
  4. Shen Yang (2439)
  5. Huang Qian (2438)
  6. Wang Pin (2415)
  7. Ning Chunhong (2362)
  8. Zhang Jilin (2361)
  9. Tian Tian (2268)
  10. Gu Xiaobing (2225)

[edit] Former China players

See also: List of nationality transfers in chess

[edit] Past players

Notable past players include (active years):

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Chess Online Encyclopedia.
  2. ^ Yahoo! Games
  3. ^ Li, David H. (1998). The Genealogy of Chess. Premier Pub. Co. ISBN 0-9637852-2-2. 
  4. ^ USA-China Chess Summit Seattle
  5. ^ The Big Dragon Project. Daily Chess Columns. ChessBase.com.
  6. ^ Ye Rongguang at chessgames.com
  7. ^ Chess - New York Times
  8. ^ CHESS IN CHINA - AWAKENING OF A DRAGON By Ignatius Leong, International Arbiter & Organizer
  9. ^ Liu Wenzhe vs Jan Hein Donner
  10. ^ SOMETHING AGAINST THE PIRC
  11. ^ Profile of the Chinese players
  12. ^ Comparing top chess players throughout history
  13. ^ Ye, Jiangchuan benoni.de/schach/elo

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

  • Liu, Wenzhe (2003). The Chinese School of Chess. Batsford. ISBN 0713487739. 

[edit] Chess periodicals

  • International Chess in China. (Bimonthly) [3]

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Flag of the People's Republic of China Chess in the People's Republic of China
Governing body
Competitions
Grandmasters
(GM)
Active
Bu Xiangzhi (2708) · Ni Hua (2704) · Wang Yue (2689) · Wang Hao (2684) · Zhang Pengxiang (2640) · Ye Jiangchuan (2612) · Peng Xiaomin (2590) · Li Chao (2582) · Zhou Jianchao (2580) · Xie Jun (2574) · Zhao Jun (2566) · Xu Jun (2534) · Li Shilong (2512) · Yu Shaoteng (2505) · Xu Yuhua (2500) · Wen Yang (2497) · Liang Chong (2484) · Liang Jinrong (2476) · Wu Wenjin (2442)
Inactive
Former
Women GMs
(WGMs)
Active
Hou Yifan (2549) · Zhao Xue (2523) · Ruan Lufei (2495) · Shen Yang (2439) · Huang Qian (2438) · Wang Pin (2415) · Ning Chunhong (2362) · Zhang Jilin (2361) · Tian Tian (2268) · Gu Xiaobing (2225)
Inactive
Former
FIDE Top 100 Country list