On October 30, the 2021 "Zhouzhuang Cup" International City Chess Network Team Competition was held in Zhouzhuang, the "First Water Town in China". 32 chess players from Quebec, Richmond Hill, Japan, Kuching, Malaysia, Manila, The Philippines, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, as well as Anyi County, Jiangxi Province, Jiangsu Kunshan City, 6 countries and 8 cities gathered in Zhouzhuang for a "chess engagement".
In recent years, Zhouzhuang has taken the construction of "the world's most beautiful water town" as its goal and has continuously promoted the prosperity and development of various undertakings. The "Zhouzhuang Cup" chess series started in 2011 and has gone through an unusual 10-year "chess" road. From the "Cross-Strait Masters" to the "Belt and Road" Chess International Invitational Tournament, and then to this year's International City Chess Network Team Competition, the "Zhouzhuang Cup" has always used chess as a medium to connect with the world, hoping to promote the chess culture that has been inherited for thousands of years to the world through the babbling water of Zhouzhuang.
Ten years of "Zhouzhuang Cup" has become a convention. Affected by the new crown pneumonia epidemic last year, the "Zhouzhuang Cup" was regrettably suspended. In the current normalization period of epidemic prevention and control, this year's "Zhouzhuang Cup" was held in the form of an online competition on the "Daily Chess" platform. Huang He, a publicity member of the Party Committee of Zhouzhuang Town, said: "This year, we fully responded to the call of the State General Administration of Sport and the Chinese Chess Association, gave full play to the advantages of online competitions, provided convenient ways for participants to participate, and let more foreign players enjoy the game." He said that during the event, the whole process will be broadcast live with the help of new media platforms, so that Zhouzhuang's traditional culture and brand events can be better disseminated and recognized, and the international development of Zhouzhuang's "cultural and sports tourism" will be further promoted.
It is understood that in the two-day schedule, 32 chess players formed 8 teams in cities. In the first stage of the preliminary round, the 8 teams were divided into two groups, A and B, and 3 rounds of single round robin, and the top 2 in each group advanced to the final of the second stage.
The "Competition Measures" stipulate that the semi-finals and the final are played in a one-game knockout round, and if the two teams are tied by one game, each sends 1 person to play super fast chess, and then play super fast chess with chess until the winner is divided. "Chess Plus" aims to encourage chess players to go all out and fight to win, ultra-fast chess matches can better meet the needs of short-term and high-frequency online viewing, and the new format combined with the two is an important exploration of the "Zhouzhuang Cup" in the ten-year chess process.
In order to let more chess fans enjoy this "chess feast", this tournament also invited chess masters Li Aidong and Ouyang Chanjuan as commentators. The two anchors will lead all chess fans who pay attention to live broadcasting to "tour China's first water town and play Chinese chess".
Correspondent Zhou Xuan Yangzi Evening News/Purple Cow News reporter Yu Suyun Photo courtesy of Zhou Zhuang Propaganda Office
Proofread by Li Haihui
Source: Purple Cow News