If you use three words to describe Hou Yifan's life, it is "winning the hemp"——
9 years old
The first time to compete abroad, won the championship and became famous, and was selected for the national team;
12 years old
Won the title of Women's Grandmaster of Chess and was promoted to Male Grandmaster at the age of 14;
16 years old
Won the Women's Chess World Championship and became the youngest chess queen in the history of chess, and no one has broken this record so far;
17 years old
Successfully defended the championship and became the only chess player in history to win the championship twice before the age of 18;
19 years old
Defeated Ukraine's regular queen Anna Ushnina three times defending her title...
21 years old
She won the Women's Championship at the Gibraltar Masters of Chess Tournament and became the female chess player with the highest chess rating
△ Hou Yifan in the competition
On another "track", Hou Yifan is also a proper "other person's child"——
18 years old
Escort to Peking University;
23 years old
Received the title of Rhodes Scholar known as the "Global Undergraduate Nobel Prize";
24 years old
Enrolled in Oxford for a Master of Public Policy;
26 years old
He took over the letter of appointment from Shenzhen University and became the youngest full professor in the history of the university...
The conversion track did not become the end of her "golden age" as many people feared, on the contrary, Hou Yifan opened the era that really belonged to her with a more sober and comfortable attitude, "while reading and winning the women's world championship twice, the grade score and the results of the competition have improved", if all goes well, the 28-year-old will also represent China in this year's Asian Games.
In her words, "Reading and playing chess are my favorite things, I am confident that I can do it well, although it is a little bitter and a little tired, but the sparks of the two thoughts collide in my body, bringing me a lot of inspiration and happiness." 」 ”
Not long ago, we met and interviewed her at the 2022 Harvard Summit HSYLC. Surprisingly, in her narrative, we do not find any dramatic passages such as "eccentric geniuses", "crying blood chicken babies" or "bottoming out", on the contrary, her path to success has been unusually smooth, and she herself is as friendly and friendly as the sister next door.
- What kind of family education has shaped her to be unfazed?
- When faced with major life choices, what inspiration can her trade-offs give to ordinary people?
- What did winning the chess championship and her experience at a top school bring her?
- After success, how will she continue to pursue excellence?
Although time is limited, Hou Yifan still made the most sincere answer with the clear logic and vivid expression unique to chess players.
*For convenience, this article is narrated in the first person
#01
I was very fortunate to grow up in a relaxed, liberal and democratic atmosphere.
When I was a child, because of the good checkers, some elders praised me as a malleable talent, and my parents were very happy, so they let me pick a hobby that I was interested in. I chose chess because I liked its three-dimensional shape.
In less than a year, I won the championship of the same age group in Jiangsu Province, followed by the national children's championship, the Li Chengzhi Cup championship and other results, and my parents felt that they wanted me to try it again, so they gave up their career and took me to Shandong to learn art.
Although I made a lot of sacrifices, my parents' mentality was very relaxed, just thinking about developing my potential as much as possible, rather than forcing me to succeed. They even think optimistically:
“
Take advantage of the child's age is still young to go out and break in, learn to be famous better, do not go home and continue to study, anyway, the curriculum at the primary school stage is simple, going out to visit the teacher does not affect the study. ”
△ Hou Yifan won the World Children's Championship at the age of 9 and returned to Shandong to receive the award
My parents always wanted me to follow my own interests and not be held hostage to the views of society or others.
In the first few years when I was a professional chess player, I often had to compete all over the world, and my parents asked me very seriously, "Do you like to compete?" If you don't like it, let's go back to school. "It seems a little incredible today that they never had to go to what heights I had to go to get to because I had achieved something.
On the contrary, they respect my wishes very much and communicate with me as an adult when discussing issues such as "whether I feel tired and tired" and "whether to consider the development of other fields".
But that doesn't mean the child can do whatever he wants. In fact, on my educational track, there is always a "red line", within the "red line" I can grow up in a way that I am comfortable and like, and once I do something that does not belong to this age group, my parents will communicate with me in a more formal way and find a suitable solution together.
Maybe the way my parents were raised could also give some inspiration to young parents.
Parents often ask me how old I start learning chess, how to judge whether the child is this piece of material, and how to learn the effect.
In fact, the career planning of young chess players is a very large topic, but in simple terms, parents must first confirm their children's interests, and the twisted melon is not sweet, not only by the wishful thinking of parents, but first listen to the children's views.
△ Hou Yifan, who learned chess as a child
Second, parents should know how to filter information and block out some knowledge that is useless or harmful to children. For example, many people now use AI to train, which is exactly unfavorable for children who are exposed to chess at the beginning, because they cannot understand the logic behind AI chess, and it is best to teach according to their talents, listen to the teacher's explanation and real people.
In addition, parents also take the time to think about the purpose of learning chess. Do you want to become a professional chess player, or just as a hobby? According to my observation, the original intention of many parents is to cultivate hobbies, but learning to learn becomes more and more "volume", mostly under the pressure of the environment.
At this time, it would be much better if you had sufficient communication with your children like my parents. The goal can be changed, but the premise of change must not be influenced by others, but the result of one's own inner analysis and discussion. And once you've set your goal, go all out in the short term, don't hesitate to get lost or change easily.
In addition, one of the things that touched me most about my parents was that they gave me enough company.
I went to Shandong at the age of 7 and to Beijing at the age of 9, my parents were always by my side, although it would affect their careers, they always felt that such a young child could not be alone outside, and if the parents were absent from the growth of their children, they would make the children feel uneasy.
It is precisely because of their company that I have more confidence and confidence in many times, and I know in my heart that no matter whether I succeed or fail, there will always be someone to support me and always have a home, which is the premise for me to become strong.
△ In 2010, Hou Yifan became China's fifth world chess queen
△ In 2011, Gorbachev presented the award to Hou Yifan
#02
Many parents ask if talent is needed to play chess.
My answer to this is that it is necessary, but only when sprinting to the peak. For example, get the men's world championship, or enter the top three, top five, or top ten in the world. Because talent can only help you take it a step further if you really reach a very high level.
Until then, most people can go very far with hard work.
Chess is not difficult to get started, as long as anyone is interested and willing to sink their hearts, as little as a few hours, as many as a few lessons can complete a game of chess. This is a "game" that does not require superior intelligence or a prominent understanding of a certain aspect.
But this is not to say that anyone can easily reach the top, there is an invisible barrier between entry and professionalism, and it is necessary to study hard, excellent psychological quality, and considerable physical reserves if you want to cross the past. Playing a game of chess for three or four hours is the norm, as much as seven or eight hours, and people who are active and restless need to make some less comfortable changes to overcome difficulties.
Take myself, for example, and I didn't realize I was talented until I achieved some results.
In 2006, I participated in the Women's World Championship for the first time, and as a "little white", I defeated two chess players who were higher than me in rank and experienced, and who had grown up under the Soviet school. The opposing coach commented that I played chess "very sophisticated", unlike the chess played by a teenage girl.
Since then, one of my coaches who has brought out the top players in the world ranking also said, "From the perspective of training, I think that your sense of chess and reaction are no less than those of the top chess players." However, there is a sentence behind the coach: "Your effort may not be enough." ”
But for me, the point of talent is not to help me find the right options, but to rule out some of the wrong ones.
In high-level competitions, the ability to quickly detect problems will save me a lot of time, but this can also be compensated for by a lot of training.
In addition to talent, if you want to play chess well, you must also have a certain ability to analyze problems, learn to look at the essence without appearances, and penetrate some illusions and even illusions on the chessboard. The same applies to solving some of life's problems.
For example, why do we choose to give up a lot of the time?
Not because we don't want to stick with it, but because after sticking with it for a long time, you don't see hope, and you're worried that if you continue to work hard with double or even several times the time and energy, you won't see the results.
If there is a person who can predict the future and tell us at what point in time we can succeed, I think eighty or ninety percent of people will stick with it. The hardest part is not that you feel you can't do it, but that you don't know which day you can do it. Because you really know that you can't do it and you give up, and you don't feel sorry. You're not sure if you can do it, and you want to try, but you really don't see hope, and it's the most regrettable thing to give up at this time, and it's just the norm.
For me, winning the world championship has never been my ultimate goal, and I don't stop just because I've achieved it. On the contrary, the grade score and ranking have remained relatively stable and upward for a period of time, which shows that your overall strength as a chess player is stable, and after I choose to study, I still warn myself not to slacken off, which also keeps me in a good state.
A few years ago, the popular American drama "Rear Wing Abandoned Soldier" shaped the heroine into a child prodigy image, as if to tell the audience that chess is a sport that requires great talent.
But in fact, when parents choose, they can use the national elephant as a quality education to assist in improving learning ability, without too much consideration of whether they have talent. If you only have talent and the foundation is not laid, talent is actually of no use.
△ Stills from the TV series "Rear Wing Abandoned Soldiers"
#03
Many film and television works have paragraphs showing the memory and computing ability of the protagonist's "super god", and some people are curious about whether playing chess will make people smarter, and whether this ability can be transferred to learning.
In fact, for any chess player who has been trained for a period of time, it is not a difficult task to replay a game of chess, or play blind chess, because the player relies on logic rather than memory. In my daily life, I can quickly memorize lyrics, write down phone numbers, and recognize the way. If parents really want to improve their children's mathematical ability or some aspect of ability, they do not have to detour to achieve it by learning chess.
However, I do know some chess players who played chess well as a child, as well as a Harvard professor who has reached the level of a master, and they have achieved success in areas other than chess, but this is also inseparable from their long-term accumulation in various fields.
Personally, I have never felt that I am a scholar, although I have read Peking University, Oxford, and I am also a Rhodes scholar, but I know that I am not a scholar in the true sense, and I am still far from being knowledgeable and having a complete learning system.
This is because I have never asked myself to be at the top of the list, my time and energy are limited, and I can only do relatively well when I am as balanced as possible.
When I chose to return to school, there were indeed many doubts, including my teachers and many seniors in the industry who believed that they should not go to school at the "golden age" of athletes, and they could wait for another three or four years, get more championships, and then go to school.
But in my opinion, I can't just live in this world as a chess player, whether it's as a chess player or a student, and even later coaching, I always feel that we should first become an independent individual, and then the role given to you by work.
As it turned out, my choice was correct. During my studies, I met more "Bo Le", who not only preached and solved my karma in terms of profession, but also gave me a lot of help and advice on life choices, and one teacher once said to me:
“
In my eyes you are more than just an athlete, you are perfectly capable of balancing a lot of things and planning for the longer term. ”
During my studies at Oxford, one of the things I learned most deeply was that if you want to explore a certain problem, it is best to start with some of the most basic, simple, and fundamental problems, rather than getting over some seemingly simple problems. I very much hope to bring these experiences to more young people, so I naturally walked into Shenzhen University.
Another thing that pleases me is that when I jumped out of chess, I was able to look at it from a whole new perspective. That's why I never feel "burned out" about chess.
△ Hou Yifan walked into the 1 VS 52 wheel race of RenfuShen (Picture from: Renmin University Affiliated Middle School Shenzhen School Subscription Number)
Can not simply say that I have always wanted to play chess, can be understood as at different stages of my life, chess in different ways to play my "main bone", in my adolescence, I am keen to participate in various competitions to exercise and improve, for the glory of the country, when I became a college student and even participated in the work, engaged in a lot of chess promotion, popularization work, let me realize that playing chess is a meaningful thing.
Not being limited to looking at chess in the same light has sustained my interest in it all the time.
Conversely, if you keep doing the same thing, the vast majority of people will probably feel burned out at some point in time, especially when they encounter setbacks.
Finally, I would like to talk about the problem that many people will worry about the victory of AI over humans. In fact, I look at this matter with a more positive attitude. There is no need to say that machines have defeated humans, so this is a failure of human beings, not to mention that people can't get off machines, and there is no need for this project to exist.
In my opinion, chess is not only an intellectual game, professional competition, but also a competitive sport that helps people improve their psychological quality, enhance their ability to resist pressure, and change their way of thinking.
We can use artificial intelligence analysis software to help improve the overall level, for example, in the past, when there was no software, we would feel that 2700 was already a very high level, but after using the software, everyone's score increased to 2800, 2900, which represents the improvement of the overall industry. Without powerful algorithms, the process could take 10, 20, or even longer.
For smaller players, the process of learning to play chess is also the process of learning how to think about problems.
Through review, we can summarize how to adjust ourselves to achieve mental stability when facing difficulties, and how to simplify and solve complex problems in an orderly manner. But sometimes, you miss an opportunity, even if you make up for it, you may not really be able to save it, these vivid experiences will tell children, decide carefully, and have no regrets.
Chess brings everyone a wonderful place that belongs only to her, and this charm is worth discovering.