Straddling Chu and Han -- Hu Ronghua's Life in Chess

Author: Cheng Zhi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-02-01
Features: Hu Ronghua won his first national championship at the age of 15. In 1988, he was awarded the title of International Grandmaster of Chinese Chess by the Asian Xiangqi Federation. Dominating the chess world for over forty years, by the end of 2000, he held four records: becoming the youngest national champion at the age of fifteen, the only player to achieve ten consecutive championships, the only player to win fourteen national individual championships, and the only player to dominate the chess world for over forty years. In 1959, he joined the Shanghai team and rapidly advanced under the guidance of renowned players He Shun'an and Xu Tianli. In 1960, he won the championship at the Hangzhou Five Provinces Invitational Tournament, entering the ranks of top national players. That same year, he represented Shanghai in his first national competition, winning both the team and individual championships, creating a legendary achievement in the chess world known as "heroes are always born in youth." From 1962 to 1979, he won the national chess individual championship nine times in a row, achieving the remarkable feat of "ten consecutive reigns" over two decades. He won the national individual championship four more times in 1983, 1985, 1997, and 2000. Especially in 2000, at the "advanced age" of fifty-five, he won the championship once again, earning the title of "evergreen tree" in the chess world and the nickname of the "undying bird." Hu Ronghua is a master of Chinese chess, a key founder of the modern Xiangqi school, and one of the most outstanding chess players of the 20th century.