After rest day of the World Youth Chess Championship players have come to the Playing hall full of emotions from their trips which the WYCC organizers arranged for them. Some of them went shopping to one of the biggest shopping malls in the world: Dubai Mall. Another trip was organized to the Chess festival which is taking place the same dates in Sharjah. Some of the guests chose the journey to the World largest indoor park: Ferrari World Abu Dhabi. Finally many chess players preferred to stay in the Campus to enjoy free time or get prepared for the last rounds.

The Chinese team is one of the biggest teams in the WYCC 2013. There are 52 players (girls and boys) who participate in different categories of the competition. The big delegation including parents, coaches is led by the new President of the Chinese Chess Federation Mr. Yang Jun An.

China is one of the world known chess countries. There are many professional adult chess players who achieved many results in many important competitions. Children in China follow chess traditions as well. Zhu Yi is the Gold Medalist of the WYCC 2011 in Brazil. Wei Chempeng (Open U-10, 2003), Hou Yifan (Girls U-10, 2003) Yu Yangyi (Open U-10, 2004), Zhao Nan (Open U-12, 2004) Wang Yue (Girls U-10, 2005), Wang Ton Sen Open U-10, 2007) Zhao Mo (Girls U-12, 2008), Bai Jinshi (Open U-10, 2009), Chu Ruotong (Girls U-8, 2009) and Li Yunshan (Girls U-8, 2010) - this is the impressive list of gold medalists representing Celestial Empire.

The coach of the Chinese players believe that their players have talent and enough professionalism to fight for the first places. Though, as he says, many of them have come to Al Ain to participate in an international competition for the first time. The Chinese federation would like to show them how it is to play among players from many countries, to taste how it is to represent China in the World class tournament. Many of the players have won the national competitions of different age categories. Now, it is high time to show their strength on a more professional level.

The representatives of Chinese delegation also believe that children will make the decision if they would like to continue the professional chess career upon coming back home. The participation in an international competition will help them to make the right decision.

• How were the players chosen to represent China in the WYCC 2013?

   

• China is a very big country. We have a lot of kids who play chess. We have organized many national competitions; the qualification system is very strict. The best from the best are here. Though there were no special training camps before the Championship, all chess players tried to get prepared for the tournament.

   

• Do your kids train a lot generally? Chess is famous in China. There are many professional chess players from your country. We may guess that it is famous among children as well, is that true?

   

• You are right, chess is one of the famous sports in China, but study is the first consideration in our country. Just few parents support and let their children focus on chess. So, only some small percentage of the Chinese players has a goal to become a professional chess player and go chess way. From the other side, chess is popular among kids as a hobby. We all believe that chess helps kids not only to study but also to organize the productive and interesting life.

   

• How do you find your staying in Al Ain?

   

• To our mind the organization is on a very good level, though there were some clashes and problems at the beginning. Apart from that, we experience a hospitable attitude, great conditions for chess players, good food and weather. What else one may wish.

   

• I am sure you would like all your players to show their best in the competition. Who are your favorites? Are there some players you have set your hopes for?

   

• Yes, we believe that our chess players are doing their utmost at this championship. We do hope that they will show good performance. Our best hopes are boys in the category U-14: Liu Yan and Li Di. As for the girls, Gu Tian Lu is doing well at this tournament, though she lost in the previous round.           

   

• Let me wish your players good luck!