Chinese chess master Hou Yifan always remains humble and vigilant. PROVIDED TO TEENS
In 2020, people around the world were impressed by the chess prodigy Beth Harmon in The Queen’s Gambit. However, there’s a similar “queen of chess” in real life – 28-year-old Hou Yifan.
2020年，《后翼弃兵》里的国际象棋奇才贝丝·哈蒙给全世界观众留下了深刻印象。然而，现实生活中也有一位与其相似的“棋后”——她就是28岁的侯逸凡。
Hou started playing chess at 5 years old in 1999. At that time, her parents took Hou to try different brain games at a training center. “With the interesting shapes, I was attracted by the chess and decided to take it up,” said Hou.
1999年，5岁的侯逸凡开始下棋。当时，父母带侯逸凡去少年宫尝试不同的益智游戏。侯逸凡说:“我为象棋棋子别致的造型所吸引，决定学象棋。”
After playing for two years as a hobby, Hou met her coach – grandmaster Tong Yuanming – and took up professional training.
侯逸凡把象棋作为一项业余爱好，直到两年后，她遇到了自己的教练——国际大师童渊铭，并从此开始了专业训练。
“Chess is a mind game full of uncertainties. Even when there are only five or six pieces left on the board, you cannot calculate all the variations,” said Hou. “So instead of too much focus on theories, we should rely more on practice and strategy.”
“国际象棋是一种心理游戏，充满不确定性。即使棋盘上只剩下五、六个棋子，你也无法计算出所有变化。”侯逸凡说，“因此，我们下棋应该多依靠练习和战术，而不是过于关注理论。”
Learning strategies from previous competitions and practicing chess quickly became her daily life.
侯逸凡从此前的象棋比赛中领悟战术，并不断练习下棋，这些很快成为了她的日常生活。
Luckily, her efforts were soon rewarded. At 13, she became China’s youngest ever National Women's Champion and then became the youngest chess champion in the world at 16.
幸运的是，侯逸凡的努力很快得到了回报。13岁时她成为中国历史上最年轻的女子国际象棋全国冠军， 16岁时成为最年轻的国际象棋世界冠军。
Although a famous chess star known all over the globe, Hou always stayed vigilant. “I'm happy to win these titles, but I know this is a coin with two sides,” Hou added. “As you gain public attention, your faults are amplified. So I should shrug the honors off and stay motivated to keep improving.”
虽然侯逸凡已经成为闻名全球的国际象棋明星，但她始终保持着清醒。“我很高兴能赢得这些冠军，但我知道这是一枚硬币的两面，”侯逸凡补充说，“你获得公众关注时，自身的缺点也会被放大。所以我应该把这些荣誉抛诸脑后，保持不断进步的动力。”
Having focused on international chess for a long time, Hou then decided to study in the college. In 2012, she studied international relations at Peking University and then went to the University of Oxford.
在长期专注于国际象棋后，侯逸凡决定去大学学习。2012年，侯逸凡进入北京大学国际关系学院，攻读外交学专业，随后她去往牛津大学深造。
“I have to know more,” she said. “I have to open my eyes to see the whole world.”
“我必须知道得更多，”侯逸凡说，“我要睁开眼睛，看看整个世界。”
Now, the 28-year-old has become a teacher at Shenzhen University. She wants to “integrate the methods she learned in China and the West and allow international chess to reach more young Chinese people”.
现在，28岁的侯逸凡已经成为深圳大学的一名教师，她希望“把在中国和西方学到的方法结合起来，让中国年轻人更多地接触到国际象棋”。
