Is Miaoyi Lu the next Hou Yifan?

by André Schulz
3/16/2020 – Miaoyi Lu might be a name well worth remembering. The Chinese player was born in 2010 but is already surprisingly strong. In March, she won a women's grandmaster tournament in Belgrade and that was not her first success — and will probably not be her last. | Photo: David Halter (USChess.org)
Chess is turning into a young man’s game. Time limits are faster, sessions last longer and computer databases and playing engines seem to dominate opening preparation. Add the fact that older players often have jobs and families that take most of their time and it’s no surprise they suffer painful defeats at the hands of spotty youths. Nigel Davies is no stranger to this situation; a more mature Grandmaster who refuses to grow old with dignity he is still slugging it out with young players in tournaments and matches. On this DVD he argues that an older player with very little time can nonetheless remain competitive, but only if he uses guile and common sense rather than bluster and machismo.

A 9-year old rising fast!

The recent results of Lu Miaoyi have caused a lot of attention. The Chinese girl was born in 2010 and is (most likely) only nine years old but she still managed to finish 9th at the Liberec Open in the Czech Republic.

Final standings (top 25)

Rk. Name Pts.  Tb1 
1 Priasmoro Novendra 8,5 49,0
2 Kulon Klaudia 7,0 49,5
3 Sernecki Franciszek 7,0 48,0
4 Akash G 7,0 47,0
5 Arfan Aditya Bagus 6,5 45,5
6 Belaska Premysl 6,5 44,0
7 Bindrich Oswald 6,5 40,0
8 Kucera Petr 6,0 48,0
9 Lu Miaoyi 6,0 45,5
10 Pawicka Magdalena 6,0 45,0
11 Nehyba Martin 6,0 45,0
12 Valenta Vit 6,0 44,0
13 Paldus Petr 6,0 41,0
14 Kucera Jaroslav 6,0 39,5
15 Bradac Daniel 5,5 46,5
16 Cakl Zdenek 5,5 42,5
17 Korniichuk Oleksandra 5,5 42,0
18 Meszaros Ludek 5,5 40,0
19 Korosciel Aneta 5,5 40,0
20 Dambrauskas Virginijus 5,0 50,5
21 Nomin-Erdene Davaademberel 5,0 46,0
22 Moravec Vit 5,0 44,0
23 Lye Sverre 5,0 41,5
24 Mazurek Bartosz 5,0 41,5
25 Muller David 5,0 41,0

A great success, of course, but it gets even better. At the 52nd Medjunarodni Velemajstorski Turnir Sahistkinja in Belgrade, which just ended (3rd to 11th of March) she finished first, a full point ahead of fellow Chinese player Xu Yuanyuan who is nominally 350 Elo-points better than Lu Miaoyi.

Lu Miaoyi did not lose a single game in Belgrade but scored four wins and finished with a rating-performance of almost 2400.

Final standings

Rk. Name Pts.  Tb1 
1 Lu Miaoyi 6,5 0,0
2 Xu Yuanyuan 5,5 0,0
3 Eric Jovana 5,0 0,0
4 Benderac Ana 4,5 2,0
5 Cvitan Ena 4,5 1,5
6 Lehaci Miruna-Daria 4,5 1,5
7 Maisuradze Nino 4,5 1,0
8 Dimitrova Aleksandra 4,0 0,0
9 Chelushkina Irina 3,5 0,0
10 Nestorovic Katarina 2,5 0,0

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Last summer, at the Philadelphia Open in the USA, the young Chinese also caused a minor sensation by finishing third in her group, winning USD $1,600. Moreover, she played more moves than any other participant, on average 72 moves per game. Her longest game (a draw) even lasted 172 moves, as David Halter reported to the USCF.

Translation from German: Arne Kaehler

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André Schulz started working for ChessBase in 1991 and is an editor of ChessBase News.

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