In 20 10, Hou Yifan was only 16 years old. At that time, she had become the youngest chess queen in the history of chess by virtue of her own strength. The New York Times once praised: "If there is a face that can represent the rise of China, then this person is neither a politician nor an Internet tycoon, but a quiet and gentle 16-year-old girl named Hou Yifan."
In 20 12, Hou Yifan just came of age and went to Peking University to study under the pressure of opposition. For many people, going to college is undoubtedly a brand-new beginning. For many people, four years in college is the "love season" of life, and some even later said that they had lived in college. "If you don't talk about a vigorous love, you are sorry for yourself who worked hard for the college entrance examination." Obviously, for Hou Yifan, becoming a master is the height he wants to pursue in university.
Hou Yifan became one of the four lucky winners of Rhodes Scholarship with excellent results and entered Oxford University. Although her achievements have always been eye-catching, she doesn't seem to want others to always make irresponsible remarks with these external auras. Like many successful people, success always comes down to luck: "In fact, I just had a good chance and was lucky along the way."
Speaking of how Hou Yifan's chess talent was discovered, it can be traced back to Hou Yifan's age of 5. At that time, when children her age were immersed in the world of glass checkers, Hou Yifan showed a strong ability to get started. No matter in thinking or chess logic, she has her own unique opinions. She has defeated her brothers and sisters who are many years older than herself. After parents discovered their daughter's talent, they had plans to send her to the Children's Palace to study intelligence courses.
Hou Yifan first set foot in the gate of Children's Palace in 1999. To say that the intelligence courses provided by the Children's Palace are nothing more than chess and Go. At the age of ignorance, Hou Yifan decisively chose the former. The reason why she chose it at that time was not that high, but she thought its chess pieces were beautiful. Compared with Go with only black and white pieces, it is really incomparable.
Out of interest and love, he stayed in the boring study life of Children's Palace for less than a year, and Hou Yifan directly won the championship of the same age group in Jiangsu Province. At the same time, it also emerged in the subsequent national children's competition. Two years later, it was difficult for Hou Yifan to meet his opponent in his hometown. The couple, as her parents, must be very proud to have achieved such results. Every time I go out, I will be teased by my neighbors: "Take the baby girl out for a walk again?"
As a mother, in order to live up to her children's talents, she simply quit her job and went to Shandong with Hou Yifan, who was only seven years old, to join Tong Yuanming, who is known as the "chess saint". The couple concluded, "Anyway, my daughter is only in primary school now, so it is good to go out and see the world. It's not too late to go back to school, and it doesn't matter much. " Under the guidance of a famous chess teacher, Hou Yifan's accomplishments in chess have also been greatly improved, which undoubtedly means that she is about to face a bigger stage.
In 2003, she represented China for the first time in the World Children's Age Group Competition, and became famous after winning the championship. After that, she successfully joined the China Chess Team, which immediately opened the prelude to her glory in the history of chess.
13 years old, become a female grandmaster;
14 years old, becoming the youngest female chess player with the title of men's grandmaster;
15 years old, Hou Yifan became the youngest chess queen in China;
16 years old, becoming the youngest chess world champion in the world;
17 years old, after successfully defending the world chess, ...
In 20 12, in the 10 Gibraltar chess open, Hou Yifan defeated Hungarian female rider Polga Jr. It is reported that George W. Polga is another myth in the history of chess-in the past 20 years, George W. Polga has never lost to a female chess player in a slow chess match. It is said that Hou Yifan, 18 years old, broke this myth and became a new legend.
Hou Yifan is still the only female chess player ranked above 2600 in the world. Many people like to call it a "genius girl", but Hou Yifan doesn't seem to like this taboo. In her opinion, her talent is indeed there, but calling it a "talented woman" is a bit exaggerated. She often talks about her success. "The most important thing is training, opportunity and luck. When all the factors are combined and fit into one point, I can become who I am today. "
From a very young age, she seems to have given up her studies, which is actually different from those who chase professional chess players. Hou Yifan really likes going to school. Although she spent more childhood learning to play chess, she still found time to study. 20 12, in the golden age of his career (as a chess player), Hou Yifan decided to go to Peking University. Although questioned by many people in the industry, Hou Yifan insisted on his life choice.
"Even if going to school delays my competitive performance, I will not hesitate to choose to go to school!" So, at the age of 18, she entered Peking University Institute of International Relations as she wished, and began her campus life. During this period, she not only paid attention to playing chess, but also paid attention to learning. She not only won prizes in various chess competitions, but also defeated many scholars and won the first overall evaluation of the subject twice. 20 17 Hou Yifan won the Rhodes Scholarship, a world-class scholarship known as the "Nobel Prize for Global Undergraduate Students". After that, she entered Oxford University for further study.
China sent four men and two women to participate in the FIFA National Cup final in May 10, and Hou Yifan was one of them. China and the United States drew 2-2, but according to the rules, China won the championship in the preliminary round. Hou Yifan was deeply moved when forwarding the message.
As for the later transformation as a professor, it is obvious that Hou Yifan was also well thought out. When she first entered Peking University, she worked as a teaching assistant in the Peking University chess class. Facing nearly 100 classmates, she was calm and calm. After the course, many students said they were still dissatisfied. "She speaks very well, articulate, clear-cut, and quotes classics, which fascinates people like us who don't understand chess."
Hou Yifan also expressed the hope that his life would be more colorful. Therefore, from the chess queen to the schoolmaster to the present professor, she is always pursuing new challenges for herself. "After staying in a circle for a long time, I gradually got used to this comfort zone, which also means that it is difficult to have the motivation to make changes. I hope I can keep pace with the times every once in a while, inject myself with new elements of the times and do something for the society as much as possible. " As her life creed says-"Life is about seeing more different scenery".