Across Chu Han Hu Ronghua's chess life

Text/Chengzhi

Mention hu ronghua's name, almost a household name, he is a dazzling "star" in China's chess world. From the late 1950s to the present, for nearly half a century, the brilliant starlight has always shone on the Chinese chess world. Xie Xiaxun, the old chess king who was the commander-in-chief of China's chess world in the 1920s, personally wrote an inscription to Hu Ronghua when he was more than 90 years old: "In the century-old chess world, heroes are born, the flute is outstanding, and the number is Ronghua." "The wording is appropriate, there is no rendering.

Hu Ronghua, a native of Shanghai, was born in 1945, began to learn chess at the age of eight or nine, and became a junior champion of chess in Shanghai in 1959. In 1960, at the age of 15, he won the shanghai adult chess competition, and in the same year, in the chess competition of the National Games held in Beijing, he successively defeated the famous chess players Yang Guanfu, Wang Jialiang, Li Yiting, Liu Yici, He Shun'an, etc., and ascended to the national championship throne, thus creating the "Hu Ronghua Era". In the following 20 years, he dominated the national chess world and created an unprecedented miracle of "ten consecutive hegemons". After losing the national championship in 1980 at the Leshan National Competition in Sichuan, he soon made a comeback and ushered in the second spring of his chess career. After the second spring passed, a third spring was ushered in, until the end of 2000, when he re-ascended to the national championship throne, drawing a perfect end to the history of the 20th century chess world.

Chess Grandmaster Hu Ronghua

The People's Daily, titled "Hu Ronghua, the Immortal of Youth," commented:

Who would have thought that the 55-year-old Hu Ronghua could still win the national championship. Although he won the championship for the first time at the age of 15, followed by ten consecutive championships, and won the championship for the 13th time in 1997, if someone predicted that Hu Ronghua would win the championship before the 2000 national individual competition, he would definitely be considered to be 'old and decaying', because today's Chinese chess world is the world of Guangdong chess players Lü Qin and Xu Yinchuan, not to mention Zhao Guorong, Tao Hanming, Miao Yongpeng and many other new and old chess players who are hesitant to take the championship throne. But a miracle happened. 55 years old. Hu Ronghua ascended to the national championship for the 14th time. Looking at Hu Ronghua's road to winning the national individual competition in 2000, it may only be summed up in the word 'magical'. People who are familiar with Hu Ronghua know that he is a person who is accustomed to creating 'miracles', and at the same time he is a free and peaceful person. In Hu Ronghua, you can't find the slightest bit of rigidity, contrivance, and pretense. Hu Ronghua also likes to talk about Pei Pei, but even if he talks about the major events in the world and reduces people from all walks of life, he often reaches the point. Hu Ronghua seems to be indifferent to everything, but whenever it comes to principles, it is absolutely impossible to say one thing and one promise. Hu Ronghua rarely sits in a precarious position, whether on the field or in daily life, he always gives people the impression of being dashing and free than looking down and thinking deeply. Because of the freedom in the bones, there is a young mentality; because of the young mentality, the spirit of innovation is condensed; because of the pursuit of continuous innovation, it has created today's brilliance. ”

Titled "The King of Chess in the Kuang Dynasty", "Chinese Sports" commented:

The last national chess tournament of the century ended in Bengbu on November 17, 2000. Hu Ronghua, the most prominent chess player of the 20th century, won the gold medal of the men's championship with the highest gold content. Before the game, Xu Yinchuan and Lü Qin, who won the high demand for the bid, won the second and third places respectively. This result may be somewhat unexpected, but it should be said that this is a wonderful ending and a miracle in the history of chess in the past hundred years. Hu Ronghua has become the first chinese chess player since the age of 15, is the youngest to win the national championship, the only chess player to become a ten-consecutive champion, the only player to win the 14th national individual championship, the only athlete who has been in the chess world for 40 years, thus becoming the most outstanding chess genius of this century, worthy of the history of chess. ”

Jin Guoxiang, director of the Shanghai Municipal Sports Bureau, said at a celebration for international grandmaster Hu Ronghua's 14th national championship: "Hu Ronghua has become the first person in the Chinese chess world in nearly half a century. His brilliant achievements are the pride of Shanghai's sports community. It is hoped that the athletes of Shanghai will conscientiously study Hu Ronghua's spirit of always seeking innovation and never being satisfied with his career. Hu Ronghua is famous all over the world because of chess, and chess is even more wonderful because of Hu Ronghua. We wish Hu Ronghua a few thick strokes on the chess scene in the new century. ”

I have worked as a sports journalist and witnessed Hu Ronghua's wonderful performance in the national chess competition and conducted interviews. At the same time, he is familiar with Famous Masters and Masters such as Yang Guanfu, Wang Jialiang, Liu Dahua, and Li Laiqun. Yang Ming, the old president of the Shanghai Chess Club, and Yu Yuchang, the former leader of the Shanghai Chess Team and later the vice president of the Shanghai Chess Club, are both close friends of the author and old chess friends. Other chess players of the Shanghai Chess Club, such as Zhu Yongkang, Cao Zhilin, Qiu Xin, etc., are also very familiar with the author. Whenever they talk about Hu Ronghua, they call him "Commander Hu" and talk about his outstanding chess skills and approachable, humble and studious style. The elegant title of "commander" is people's admiration for him, just like the chess industry elected the old chess king Xie Xiaxun as the "commander-in-chief" of the chess world. When asked about hu Ronghua himself about the origin of the title of "commander", he waved his hand and smiled: "Hey, chess commander, because I win more chess, everyone will just talk about it." "Hu Ronghua has always treated his achievements with an attitude that is not surprising.

Since Hu Ronghua rode the chess world in the late 1950s, he has broken through the storm. His legendary and brilliant achievements are deeply moving, arousing the author's enthusiasm for establishing a biography for him, in order to promote the professionalism of contemporary chess kings, which is also the original intention of the literary biography of "Zhongheng Chuhan". Hopefully, it will be of interest and benefit to readers, especially young people, chess players and athletes.

What needs to be explained is that it is different from the general biography, more precisely, this is a long reportage, focusing on the superb chess skills of Hu Ronghua, the "king of chess in the Kuang Dynasty", the ideal of life that is constantly pursued by innovation, and its spirit of being dashing, approachable, humble and studious. It is a description of the deep friendship between Hu Ronghua and his teachers He Shun'an, Xu Daqing, Fu Eding, and others, described in literary style, described in chess matches, and described in blind chess or wheel wars with amateur chess players. Hu Ronghua has had blind chess and wheel wars with many amateur chess players, which cannot be listed one by one, but can only be described by a few examples, and some do not use real names, just to show Hu Ronghua's superb chess skills and show his close ties with the masses.

Author: Chengzhi