Kings and Queens in China

by ChessBase
9/13/2003 – It sounds like a lot of fun. A rapid chess tournament has started in China, with four men and four women playing in "couples". The players are of very high calibre and the pairs are determined by lots. Evgeny Bareev was not happy with his designated partner Xie Jun – because of their incompatible openings systems. Here is our first report.

ChessBase 18 - Mega package ChessBase 18 - Mega package

Winning starts with what you know
The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.

More...

Kings vs Queens Match in China

The Kings vs Queens Match is being staged in Yong Chuan, China. It is a double round-robin tournament in which the participants build pairs.

Above is a first group picture was taken on Friday. Front row (left to right): WGM Zhao Xue (18, China, 2467); Xu Yuhua (China, 2485); GM Xie Jun (32, China, 2569); the son of the Yong Chuan City Mayor; GM Zhu Chen (27, China, 2495); the wife of the Yong Chuan City Mayor. Back row: GM Nigel Short (38, England, 2701); GM Evgeny Bareev (36, Russia, 2721); GM Ye Jiangchuan (42, China, 2683); GM Yasser Seirawan (43, USA, 2626).

At the technical meeting on Friday the players drew the number to choose their partners. Here are the list of the "couples":

  • Team 1: Zhao Xue/Nigel Short
  • Team 2: Xu Yuhua/Ye Jiangchuan
  • Team 3: Xie Jun/Evgeny Bareev
  • Team 4: Zhu Chen/Yasser Seirawan

Time controls are 25 minutes for each side with a 10 seconds increment. On Sept 13 and 15, there will be three rounds each day. The players will go to Ji Nan to play a Schveningen invididual tournament from Spet 16-21.

This is the second edition of such a mixed-double chess tournament in China. Last year the players were Nigel Short, Yasser Seirawan, Zhu Chen and Xie Jun. Now we have some new faces including Evgeny Bareev, who is famous for his great sense of humor. He and Xie Jun make a very weird match, as they have no opening systems in common, despite the fact that they have the highest rating among men and women players in this tournament. Bareev said to Xie Jun: "If you want an equal position, then you play d4. If you want an worse position, then you play e4." Xie Jun replied: "So we shall try Nf3 then."

Yin Hao, Chinese Chess Association


Reports about chess: tournaments, championships, portraits, interviews, World Championships, product launches and more.

Discuss

Rules for reader comments

 
 

Not registered yet? Register