The mixed group competition of Chess University Category of the 5th National Mind Sports Games concluded on November 3 in Hefei, Anhui Province, after four days of intense competition. Team Tianjin, composed of Shang Peifeng, a doctoral student from Faculty of History, Fan Yue, a master's student from the School of Journalism and Communication, and Zhang Rui, an undergraduate student from School of Law, worked their way through multiple rounds and won the silver medal.
There were a total of 11 gold medals in the chess competition in this session. Each team in the university group competition consisted of 3 athletes (2 men and 1 woman), with a total of 18 provincial and municipal delegations participating in the competition. The ranking was determined through 7 rounds of the point circulation. In 7 rounds of matches, Team Tianjin won 5-1 against Team Hebei, 4-2 against Team Shandong, 6-0 against Team Sichuan and 4-2 against Team Jiangsu, drew 3-3 with Team Shanghai, won 6-0 against Team Zhejiang, and drew 3-3 with Team Hubei. The fifth round was particularly crucial. The competitor, Team Shanghai, is made up of all professional chess players, while NKU players performed well. Zhang Rui, in particular, drew the game as the player of the last round after responded calmly during countdown. With the tactics of giving up before taking, Zhang Rui managed to have a tie in the chess match in the end and won the chance for the team to keep the draw. In the end, Team Tianjin won the runner up with an undefeated history. In addition, Wu Yuxuan, a master's student from the NKU's School of Economics, participated in the youth group competition.
In preparation for the National Mind Sports Games, the team members of NKU began the intensive training in March. Under the leadership of coach Shang Siyuan, all team members carried forward the spirit of teamwork, overcame difficulties, and improved their competitive level through collective research, post-game review, and participating in various matches. They enhanced the cohesion of the team and ultimately lived up to expectations in the national competition, achieving excellent results.
Fan Yue said: During the training period, we participated in many open tournaments across the country during weekends and summer vacations. Personally, I won the runner up in the 'Zhenyu Cup' National Chess Open. I studied, had matches and made reviews in my spare time, preparing for the quadrennial mind sport games.”
Fan continued, Our goal for this competition was to ‘fight for the third place, ideally the championship', and with the joint efforts of the team, we finally won a silver medal, so we achieved our goal. We are all happy for that. No one is the forever winner in competitive sports. I enjoy the process of working as a team to fight for honor. Everyone is striving for a common goal, which is more precious than winning a championship. If I am given another opportunity to participate in the competition four years later, I hope to win a gold medal for Tianjin.”
The 5th National Mind Sports Games is hosted by the Board and Card Games Administrative Center of General Administration of Sports of China (“China Qiyuan” or the “Board and Card Games Administrative Center”), with six major events including Go, Chess, International Chess, Bridge, Gomoku, and Draughts. The oldest player in the competition is 76 years old, while the youngest is 6 years old, fully reflecting the strong influence of the mind sports games in positively popularizing the national fitness initiative among all age groups.
