Hou Yifan

Four-time Women’s World Champion

“Chess is not my entire life now. I have the passion for it, but it’s mainly a hobby instead of a profession. I’m trying to participate in the events in the way I can. Sometimes you miss the game and also you miss the people.

I’m just following my heart to make the decision at the moment I want. I know that chess is part of my life, but I also understand that my life could not be lived only with chess. That’s why I felt that, you should remember first you’re a human, then you’re a chess player. The world is huge, right? It’s not just a chessboard and the pieces. I don’t want, you know, when you visit a place, when you think about something, when there are some stories, you connect only with chess. I know some of the others may not be like that, and I fully respect them, but I enjoy this kind of lifestyle more.

Right now I’m interested in diplomacy. I thought that international relations, when it connected with geopolitics and negotiations, maybe there was something in common. But later I did my Masters in public policy. Now I am working for the physical education department. And I’m actually applying for my PhD in neuroscience. I know it is a little cross-field. The subject I want to research is the connection between the brain and chess patterns. If you wanted to find something scientifically connected with chess, this is one of the obvious parts. As a chess player, I felt such research could be beneficial to the players, too.”