The Chess Master
Encyclopedia
The Chess Master, or 棋王 (qíwáng), is a novel
by Chinese
writer Zhong Acheng
, writing under his pseudonym A Cheng. This short novel features characters who were part of the Down to the Countryside Movement
after the Cultural Revolution
. Written from the point of view of an unnamed narrator, readers learn more and more about the titular character, the chess master
Wang Yisheng, and what drives him to play Chinese chess.
during the Down to the Countryside Movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The unnamed narrator and the chess master Wang Yisheng are two young intellectuals among many who are sent to a remote farm in the mountains to work. During the train ride to the mountains, Wang Yisheng and his friend talk about how he learned to play Chinese chess, and how he evolved his current strategy. Wang Yisheng tells his friend that his family was very poor, and his mother did not want him to be such a chess maniac, since chess could not earn money. However, Wang Yisheng was very devoted to chess. One day, while gathering garbage to sell, Wang Yisheng meets an old man who is a chess master. Using the principles of Daoism, the old man teaches Wang everything he knows about chess. Wang Yisheng also tells his friend about how his mother always disapproved of his chess habit, but before she died, she painstakingly made him a chess set out of discarded toothbrush handles, because she knew how much he loved chess. The two friends then debark the train and head their separate ways to different farms in the countryside.
A couple months later, Wang Yisheng takes a vacation and visits his friend in the mountains. One of the narrator's friends at the farm, Legballs, happens to be a good chess player. Legballs is very impressed with Wang's ability, and the two become good friends.
After a while of working at the farm, there is a local festival with a chess tournament. The narrator, Legballs, and their friends all take a vacation to attend the festival. Wang Yisheng arrives too late to enter the official chess tournament, but he challenges the winners to an unofficial match after the tournament is over. Word spreads of his challenge, and many people decide to challenge him. He ends up playing 9 people at once without any chess boards in front of him (effectively playing blind), and he beats most of them easily. He eventually defeats the winner of the official tournament, an old man.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
writer Zhong Acheng
Zhong Acheng
Zhong Acheng , often known by his pseudonym Ah Cheng, is a Chinese author and screenwriter.In 1979, together with Ma Desheng, Wang Keping, Huang Rui, Li Shuang, Qu Leilei, Ai Weiwei, A Cheng founded the Stars Group , an assembly of untrained, experimental artists who challenged the strict tenets of...
, writing under his pseudonym A Cheng. This short novel features characters who were part of the Down to the Countryside Movement
Down to the Countryside Movement
The Down to the Countryside Movement was a policy instituted in the People's Republic of China in the late 1960s and early 1970s. As a result of the anti-bourgeois thinking prevalent during the Cultural Revolution, Mao Zedong declared certain privileged urban youth would be sent to mountainous...
after the Cultural Revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
. Written from the point of view of an unnamed narrator, readers learn more and more about the titular character, the chess master
Chess master
A chess master is a chess player of such skill that he/she can usually beat chess experts, who themselves typically prevail against most amateurs. Among chess players, the term is often abbreviated to master, the meaning being clear from context....
Wang Yisheng, and what drives him to play Chinese chess.
Plot
The story takes place in ChinaChina
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
during the Down to the Countryside Movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The unnamed narrator and the chess master Wang Yisheng are two young intellectuals among many who are sent to a remote farm in the mountains to work. During the train ride to the mountains, Wang Yisheng and his friend talk about how he learned to play Chinese chess, and how he evolved his current strategy. Wang Yisheng tells his friend that his family was very poor, and his mother did not want him to be such a chess maniac, since chess could not earn money. However, Wang Yisheng was very devoted to chess. One day, while gathering garbage to sell, Wang Yisheng meets an old man who is a chess master. Using the principles of Daoism, the old man teaches Wang everything he knows about chess. Wang Yisheng also tells his friend about how his mother always disapproved of his chess habit, but before she died, she painstakingly made him a chess set out of discarded toothbrush handles, because she knew how much he loved chess. The two friends then debark the train and head their separate ways to different farms in the countryside.
A couple months later, Wang Yisheng takes a vacation and visits his friend in the mountains. One of the narrator's friends at the farm, Legballs, happens to be a good chess player. Legballs is very impressed with Wang's ability, and the two become good friends.
After a while of working at the farm, there is a local festival with a chess tournament. The narrator, Legballs, and their friends all take a vacation to attend the festival. Wang Yisheng arrives too late to enter the official chess tournament, but he challenges the winners to an unofficial match after the tournament is over. Word spreads of his challenge, and many people decide to challenge him. He ends up playing 9 people at once without any chess boards in front of him (effectively playing blind), and he beats most of them easily. He eventually defeats the winner of the official tournament, an old man.