Hou Yifan got bitten by the chess bug when she was three years old. Her father, a magistrate, would take her to a bookshop where she became fascinated by a glass chess set displayed in the window. As destiny would have it, that “encounter” gave birth to one of the greatest careers in the modern history of the royal game. Within the ensuing twelve years, Hou has blossomed as a prodigy, breaking a series of world records and winning virtually every major title among the world’s women players, including the champion among them more than once.
At 12, she became the youngest player ever to participate in the FIDE Women’s World Championship and the Chess Olympiad. In June 2007, she became China’s youngest national women’s champion. In 2010, at the age of 16, she climaxed her spectacular rise by becoming the youngest Women’s World Chess Champion in history. Two years later she was eliminated from the championship contest, but regained the title in the following year.
Hou lost the world title again in 2015 when she declined to defend it for “scheduling reasons”. Then she demonstrated her confidence by winning it again the following year in a match against incumbent Marina Muzychuk.
Hou is the third woman ever to be rated among the world’s top 100 chess players, after Judit Polgar and Maia Chiburdanidze. According to one assessment, she is regarded as “the best active female chessplayer, leaps and bounds ahead of her competitors.” As of March 2016, the Chinese phenomenon is ranked No. 1, nearly 100 points ahead of her closest competitor Humpy Koneru.
What were the elements that went into the making of world chess champion Hou Yifan at such an early age? Apart from her personal passion for the game, she was certainly fortunate in having the fullest support and encouragement from her parents who provided her with the best trainers available.
Moved by her fascination with the glass chess set, her father presented her with a set of her own. After a few weeks of study, the three year old was able to beat both her father and grandmother. At the age of five, she came under the tuition of an IM trainer who later described her as “an unusual talent, showing strong confidence, distinguished memory, calculating ability and fast reaction.”
In 2003, Hou played against Yie Jiangshuan, the chief coach of China’s men’s and women’s chess team, for the first time. After the game Yie expressed surprise that the nine year old was able to identify all of his weak moves. “Then I knew she was an exceptional genius,” he said.
In order to better support her chess career, Hou’s family relocated to Beijing in 2003. Her mother, a nurse, accompanies her daughter as she rides the tournament circuit.
Her own passion for chess, the comfort and encouragement of her family plus, of course, training at the highest level are the major factors that have produced the genius of Hou Yifan. These are lessons for us to learn with respect to advancing the careers of our own bright young players; personal support, professional coaching and, of course, exposure to the best in foreign tournaments must be the way forward.