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Do you still remember Zhu Chen, the Chinese female chess player who dominated the international chess world 22 years ago? With her extraordinary talent and indomitable determination, she has repeatedly achieved great results on the world stage and is known as the "pride of national players".
But in 2006, this popular chess player unexpectedly announced his retirement from the national team and voluntarily gave up the qualification to represent China in the World Championship that year.
It turned out that she made a decision that shocked everyone - to change her nationality and marry into the Qatari royal family in the Middle East.
In the blink of an eye, time flies, and it is 2024 in the flick of a finger. Now 59 years old, Zhu Chen's once dazzling light seems to have eclipsed, and her figure is becoming more and more difficult to find in the media.
Since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, the once influential international chess goddess has greatly reduced the opportunity to appear in public, and social platforms have been silent for a long time, making it impossible for the outside world to know her recent situation.
It wasn't long ago that I had the pleasure of meeting Zhu Chen himself at a small chess tournament. When I got closer, her face was covered with traces of the vicissitudes of time, but her demeanor was still calm and calm, retaining the elegance of the past.
When I cautiously asked her about her current living situation, Zhu Chen seemed to smile helplessly, and said in a calm tone: "It's not bad, every day is very fulfilling."
Although it was just a simple sentence, it made me feel the openness and cleanliness of Zhu Chen's heart. Although she doesn't boast too much about the status quo, she doesn't have the slightest decadence of self-abandonment, as if she is expounding a life attitude of "living in the moment and facing it bravely".
I can't help but think of how this victorious national elephant star was willing to give up all glory in pursuit of true love and embarked on a path full of hardships.
Transnational love history
Zhu Chen's ability to maintain such an open-minded and free attitude towards life today stems from the ups and downs, ups and downs she has experienced. If you want to talk about the turning point in her life, you have to go back to a transnational love history in the mid-90s of the last century.
At that time, Zhu Chen, as the absolute main force of the Chinese national team, was already a shining star in the chess world. In an important tournament at the Asian level, she faced a formidable opponent from the Arab world, Qatari chess legend Mohammed.
On the field, Muhammad fought bravely and skillfully, and his chess skills were so good that the proud Zhuchen was defeated in this battle, and she was so angry about this fiasco that she secretly vowed to redouble her efforts. Determined to defeat his opponent one day.
Unexpectedly, this defeat became the beginning of the fate of the two.
After the game, Mohammed took the initiative to contact Zhuchen and expressed his desire for further exchanges. As a result, the two gradually established a relationship, originally just competitors on the field, and gradually became bosom friends in real life, deepening their understanding of each other, and their feelings invisibly narrowed the distance.
Zhu Chen naturally had a history of love when she was young, but the experience that Muhammad brought her was by no means comparable to any of her previous relationships. The two have very different living backgrounds, Zhu Chen was born in an ordinary family, although her parents hope that she can start a family, but they have reservations about this man from a foreign country.
The resistance from Muhammad's side was even greater. According to Zhuchen later revealed, Mohammed was born in the Qatari royal family, and the family has always had an almost paranoid insistence on pure blood, they not only opposed Muhammad marrying Zhuchen, a non-Muslim woman, but also made it clear that they hoped that Muhammad could marry the Islamic woman he liked as his wife, and let Zhuchen be a concubine.
In the face of such many obstacles, the relationship between the two was in trouble for a while, and the crisis of breaking up has been hanging over their heads. But after some psychological struggle, Muhammad finally made up his mind and bravely stood up to defend his love, declaring that he would only recognize Zhuchen as his wife and would not hurt her feelings.
Seeing such unswerving love for Muhammad, Zhu Chen's heart was extremely moved, and the two came together in this rift and worked together to survive this catastrophe.
In the serious opposition of the families of both sides, the love between the two was also in a desperate situation, but they finally overcame all obstacles with their innocent feelings and tenacious will, tied the knot in 2000, and entered the palace of marriage.
Although the wedding is small, it is full of endless sincere feelings between the two, showing the world that the power of love can overcome any difficulties and obstacles.
Chess ambitions
The roots of Zhu Chen's extraordinary achievements can be traced back to her youth. She was born in a poor ordinary family, and although her family was poor, her parents still attached great importance to education and did their best to provide her with education.
At a very young age, Zhu Chen showed an extraordinary talent for chess. She has a quick mind, an amazing memory, and a good grasp of complex situations, which amazes everyone around her.
After reaching adolescence, she joined the national team and launched her professional career.
As the rising star of the national team, Zhu Chen's chess skills are indeed amazing, she has achieved great results in various international competitions, and has won the World Youth Championships and World Championships, and is known as "chess rookie" and "genius girl".
During that period, she was simply an idol in the hearts of chess fans, both in terms of external style and internal talent, which was amazing.
Zhu Chen's pursuit of chess career can be described as fruitful. Not only is she the first player to win the world championship in the junior category, youth category and senior category at the same time, but she also created a precedent in the history of national elephants.
In terms of academics, Zhu Chen has also achieved remarkable results, not only as a student bully at Tsinghua University, but also as a role model for their children by many parents.
For Zhu Chen, an insatiable pursuit of heart, these achievements are far from enough. Even if it is already at the top international level, she is still persistent in studying, regards every opponent as a rare opportunity to learn, and is tireless in moving towards a higher peak.
It is this hot passion for chess that has allowed her to be active in the international arena for a long time, winning glory for the country, and thus getting to know the most important person in her life.
Tough decisions
The transnational marriage between Zhuchen and Muhammad was doomed to many obstacles from the beginning. Both are professional national players, often travel to the world to participate in competitions, and the long-term separation between the two places has rarely given the couple a chance to reunite, and the relationship has naturally fallen into a cold crisis.
In order to save the marriage that was drifting apart and maintain the relationship on the verge of breakup, Zhu Chen finally made a decision that shocked everyone - to change his nationality and take the initiative to join Qatar.
The decision caused an uproar in the country. According to the rules of chess tournaments, each player can only represent one country in a year. Once Zhu Chen officially joined Qatar, he had to take the initiative to withdraw from representing China in the Women's World Championships that year and give up the opportunity to compete for the championship.
This made the entire domestic chess world smack her tongue at what she did.
Some people don't understand and disagree with Zhu Chen's choice, and some people even directly abuse her unreasonably on the Internet, which has brought huge psychological trauma to this once highly sought-after "national hand baby".
In the face of abuse and criticism, Zhuchen had no choice but to issue a solemn statement on the WeChat public platform to refute public opinion rumors, but did not take further legal action on the matter.
Zhu Chen's decision to change nationality undoubtedly had a significant impact on her high-profile career. She took the initiative to quit the national team, left the stage she was once proud of, and started a new journey in the international arena, leaving her hometown to go alone.
This decision temporarily puts her in a difficult position in her career, but it also saves her precarious marriage.
Bursts of pressure
After joining Qatar, Zhuchen faced a new living environment and cultural challenges. This once beautiful national player baby had to make all kinds of difficult adaptations.
According to Qatari religious traditions, married women are required to wear a black veil to cover their entire body, not to mention the right to work freely. Zhu Chen grew up in an open and free environment, and he was unfamiliar and puzzled by this, and he inevitably felt a little depressed in his heart.
In addition to the huge difference in life habits, the differences in beliefs and concepts between the two also make their married life often cold. As a devout Muslim, Muhammad naturally hoped that Zhuchen would convert to Islam, but Zhuchen was resolutely unwilling to renounce his faith out of his insistence on Buddhism.
The two argued repeatedly on this issue, reaching an impasse several times, and finally had to compromise with each other and keep their original religion.
To make matters worse, according to Arab tradition, men are the hope for the continuation of incense. Muhammad's family, unable to have a boy, discussed the possibility of allowing Muhammad to marry another wife, but was strongly opposed by him.
The two quarreled over this, and Zhuchen even wanted to divorce for a while, but fortunately, the two sides resolved the crisis through communication.
Living in Qatar, Zhuchen often suffers from strange eyes and criticism. As a pagan, her words and actions were inevitably incompatible with local customs. Once, when Zhuchen was engaged in off-site activities, she was abused by some narrow-minded elements because she was not conservative enough, and she was heartbroken and cried so much that she couldn't help herself.
Despite this, Zhu Chen still insisted on his belief in life and was not swayed by the doubts of the outside world. She lives alone in a foreign country, and her inner loneliness can be imagined.
In order to relieve loneliness, Zhu Chen often uses online video to keep in touch with relatives and friends in his homeland. Whenever a new book is published, she will be the first to congratulate her teacher through video to express her respect for her teacher.
In these years in Qatar, Zhuchen has not given up the bezau of the domestic national elephant business. As long as she has free time, she resolutely returns to her motherland, carefully plans various international competitions, organizes professional lectures, shares valuable experience without reservation, and contributes her modest efforts to promote the development of the mainland chess scene.
In recent years, Zhu Chen has been awarded the important position of FIDE Treasurer by virtue of her excellent ability, marking her transformation from an athlete to a manager, and pushing Chinese chess to a higher and broader stage.