4 min readUpdated: Mar 30, 2026 05:38 PM IST
Tan Zhongyi says she might come from Sichuan and Chongqing region that serves up some spicy fare, but she prefers bland food always. She however served up the spiciest of stir-fries to Lichess.org presenter Greek man Theophilus Wait, who she mistook for an Indian when he visited Chongqing, and chose from the menu expecting him to have a spicy palate. “I thought Yindu people (Indians) loved spice. So I took you to places with spicy stir fry,” she said.
Talking to Lichess, ahead of the Candidates, the women’s winner from 2024, who has thrice finished runners up at World’s was all witty and philosophical, speaking about Chinese chess and women’s chess where the Chinese have ruled – so far.
She is one amongst two Chinese at Cyprus, alongwith Zhu Jinner, and Tan said where the GMs came from often shaped their style of play. On debutant Zhu Jinner who comes from Zhejiang, Tan said, “She has a very sharp side. She and Ding Liren are from the same city (Zhejiang province). But maybe different districts. I think both are very stable players with a strong psychological endurance. And in a sense, they are both not particularly expressive. But she is a very nice person. In fact, Ding Liren’s style in the middle game is very sharp. So he has two different sides,” she said of the men’s GM who has stepped back from active chess after losing to D Gukesh.
Tan however said players from Chongqing, like her and Lei Tingjie, former World champion, are different. “But Ding is unlike us, me and Lei Tingjie. With us, you can immediately tell it’s very sharp.”
Host Theo who asked if Chongqing, where modern blends tradition, train lines go through apartment buildings and has fashionable lights, glamorous styles, echoes her playing vibe – resilient but ruthless. “Chuanyu, (regions of Sichuan and Chongqing share similar culture) people are very resilient. They are hard to be defeated. But the place was once considered remote and impoverished in ancient times. And some officials didn’t even want to go there to take office and died on the way. It was a very hard place. So that also shaped the spirit and courage to overcome in face of suffering or difficulties,” Tan explained.
Having lost world championships to Ju Wenjun, Tan Zhongyi, would say there was an issue of dealing with pressure and intensity. “My psychological resilience is I can accept defeat well. But that still affects me.”
At the World Rapid Championships, Tan lost to India’s Vaishali Rameshbabu, and recalled the experience, ‘Its not that I was angry, though I had lost from a winning position. I was stunned. And little embarrassed,” she told Lichess.
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She however held a philosophical view on winning and losing in chess. “Most of us ordinary people accept failure. Except for chosen ones like Carlsen, failure is more common than wins. There can only be one champion. And I’m not even an ordinary person. But does that mean all others are losers? Yes that maybe the case. But we have to find a way to accept it. You can’t hurt yourself. Especially not your body,” she told Lichess.
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