ChineseChessUSA

Zhao XinXin went undefeated for 9 rounds to win the 11th HengFeng Cup in Xintai City, Shandong Province. His score of 6 wins and 3 draws (one to fellow USA-East team member Mou HaiQin!) gave him clear first with 15 points. He played his usual brand of uncompromising xiangqi, including a scorching win over Vietnam’s Nguyen ThanhBao (to be covered in a later post) in round 5.

Mr. Zhao was a pre-tournament favorite, and I for one was pulling for him….if anyone deserves the top spot, he does. “They get younger every year”, said Jenehou Chan, wife of USA East team captain Patrick Chan.

I caught a picture of him at the elevator, minutes after his final game. A very happy camper, indeed. Congratulations, Zhao!

You YingQin also went undefeated, winning the women’s title, with a final score of 6 wins and one draw, and edging out Vietnam’s Ngo Lan Huong by half a point.