Main event

Prodigy vs prodigy – this would be the focus of attention in Round 10 of the ongoing 8th Asian Continental Chess Championship in Subic.

The beauty of this much-awaited battle lies in the persona behind the names.

One is a female wonder girl from China and the other is a wonder boy from the Philippines.

Both are among the youngest grandmasters in chess history. Yes, they are that exceptional since they are already part of history at their very young age.

The girl made it at the age of 14 years, six months and two days, the youngest ever female player to make it.

The boy made it at the age of 14 years, one month and 28 days.

The girl is the 11th youngest GM, while the boy, 7th. Ask numerologist the meaning of No.7.

But the girl seems to have the upper hand going into this stage of the tournament. After nine rounds of game, the girl is parading a performance rating of 2649 over the boy’s 2609.




Up to Round 9, the girl is performing better than the boy. In fact, the girl already has 6.5 points, higher than the boy’s 6.0.

A win for the girl in this round will reverberate an emphatic message to the global chess community – that of a female’s real ascendancy in the competitive world of chess.

But a loss for the boy could mean the death of a nation.

Let’s get ready to rumble. It will be GM Hou Yifan vs GM Wesley So in Round 10.