(The following is a XIANGQI EN BLOG translation, which may possibly be introducing the story of the 12 year old Ms Liu Huan to our English speaking readers for the first time.)
She is only 12, she first knew about Xiangqi 4 years ago, and she has just obtained her promotion to the title of National Xiangqi Master. On average, only among 800 young players will there be one National Xiangqi Master. According to a news item of the Da He News, she is a shy girl, while her playing style is combative, with very few mistakes in her games.
Yesterday morning, the writer reporter met the little player at Henan's Chess and Cards Academy.
On the 2nd of November 2004, at Chongqing Bisha County's Chess and Cards Academy, the inauguration of the National Xiangqi Individual Championships was held.
That afternoon at 1 o'clock, Liu Huan sat in front of her table on time, she was playing against Chang Wanhua, a player from Beijing. It was Liu Huan's first game, her opponent was 20 years her senior, a National Xiangqi Master. In this game, the two players fought for more than 3 hours, in the end, Liu Huan won.
"Were you nervous?" the reporter asked. Liu Huan smiled, shooked her head: "Not at all. During the 3 hours chess struggle we had not exchanged one single word, only we done our exchanges via the chess pieces, but in the end she could not stand the pressure anymore, and was forced to resign." Liu Huan said. Earlier she already knew that in her first game, she was going to meet a National Xiangqi Master opponent, she had heard about her name, knew that she was a good player on national level, but had not seen her in person. After the game, Chang Wanhua looked at Liu Huan for a good moment, and then nodded her head with some emphasis.
After winning her first game, Liu Huan continued the attack. Next day, she met her second opponent -- Wu Xia of Jiangsu province, who had a higher title, a National Xiangqi Grandmaster. Again, it was a 3 hours and more of chess fighting, Liu Huan one again brought down her opponent. Since then, almost all other players knew they were facing a little Henan player who was difficult to deal with. "They all came over to see Liu Huan, how was she in person, why was her game so good." The team leader Mr. Wen Pengjian who remembered the scene said proudly.
The tournament continued until the 12th of November, in 11 rounds of competition, Liu Huan won 6 games, drew 3, with only 2 games lost. She defeated 5 National Xiangqi Masters. She was an unknown dark horse, she impressed all her opponents with her style of play, unstoppable in attack, committing very few mistakes in her play. They all exclaimed: the little player from Henan is out of the ordinary, the future is bright for her !
According to regulations, when the competition reached the ending stage, opponents were to meet stronger opponents. Not until the tournament ended, that Liu Huan realized that among her 11 opponents, 10 of them were National Xiangqi Masters or Grandmasters, and she was the youngest. "I was not afraid during the competition, playing in a tournament was not simply to learn from others, it was at the same time to obtain a good ranking." the shy little girl was fully confident, with an air of come what may, when talking about the competition.
After fnishing her last game, when Liu Huan learned from the competition results she was in third place, instantly she knew she had secured her title of National Xiangqi Master. "There were 45 Women's players, in the beginning we thought it would be quite satisfactory if Liu Huan can be among the top 16. We have never imagined she was so outstanding, bearing in mind she's still an amateur player." Wen Pengjian said.
(to continue)
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