International chess competition has been dominated by Russian and East European players - both men and women - ever since Bobby Fisher left the stage in 1972.
But at this year's Women's World Chess Championship - the Chinese have proven dominant. While 24 of the 64 players were from Eastern Europe, by the final match it was down to 16-year old Hou Yifan against Ruan Lufei.
In the best of 4 match, the first game ended in a draw. In Game #2, Hou Yifan exploited a blunder by Ruan Lufei (as you can plainly see in the diagram)late in the game to take the victory.
It is only fair to note that Ruan Lufei is completing her PhD at Carnegie Mellon and was not been able to devote herself full-time to match preparation.
And the players from the USA?
Well, Ukrainian-born Anna Zatonskih and Lithuanian-born Camilla Baginskaite were the only US players and they were eliminated early in the match.
In my visit to Shanghai in August, I saw Chinese children avidly studying and playing chess at the Child's Palaces - Mao's innovation to inculcate youth with Maoist doctrine. Today, the government has converted them into centers for learning - art, music, dance, calligraphy and chess.
Does it matter that millions of Chinese - and Indian - kids are passionate about a game that teaches concentration, strategic thinking, tactical planning and subtle pattern recognition?
Probably not...
China is becoming a powerful country in many ways
Posted by: remedios caseros para adelgazar | February 22, 2011 at 06:35 AM