Zhang Weida (; born 18 September 1949 in

Ningbo Ningbo (; Ningbonese: ''gnin² poq⁷'' , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly romanized as Ningpo, is a major sub-provincial city in northeast Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises 6 urban districts, 2 sate ...

) is a

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

player and coach from

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. A

FIDE Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating an ...

and Senior Trainer, he is best known for coaching the Chinese team to four consecutive gold medals at the

Women's Chess Olympiad The Women's Chess Olympiad is an event held by FIDE (the International Chess Federation) since 1957 (every two years since 1972), where national women's teams compete at chess for gold, silver and bronze medals. Since 1976 the Women's Chess Olympia ...

between 1998 and 2004.

Playing career

Domestic play

Zhang Weida first competed in the

Chinese Chess Championship The Chinese Chess Championship is the annual individual national chess championship of China. Following are the official winners of the national championship from 1957 to date. Winners : Women's Crosstables : Average Elo: 2324 Cat: 3 m = 6 ...

in 1966. In the

China Chess League The China Chess League (CCL) () is a Chinese professional league for chess clubs. The league is organized by the Chinese Chess Association. It is sponsored by Youngor Group and was sponsored by the Shandongbr>Torch Real Estate Group(2005–2009 ...

, he represented

Heilongjiang Heilongjiang () formerly romanized as Heilungkiang, is a province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is (). It was formerly romanized as "Heilungkiang". It is the northernmost and easternmost province ...

from 1978,

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...

from 1980, and

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

from the end of 1986.

International play

Zhang Weida played for the Chinese national chess team at the

Chess Olympiad The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in 2020 and ...

twice. In the

1978 Chess Olympiad The 23rd Chess Olympiad ( es, La 23a Olimpíada de ajedrez), organized by FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. and a women's tournament, as well a ...

in Buenos Aires, China's first appearance at the event, he won a silver medal playing on the second reserve board, scoring five wins and three draws with no losses. His appearance as China's lone reserve player at the 1982 Chess Olympiad in Lucerne was less successful, losing all three of his games. He earned the

title in 1989.

Coaching career

Zhang was deputy head coach of the national men's chess team from 1987 to 2017. In the 1991–1993

Women's World Chess Championship The Women's World Chess Championship (WWCC) is played to determine the world champion in women's chess. Like the World Chess Championship, it is administered by FIDE. Unlike with most sports recognized by the International Olympic Committee, wher ...

cycle, he coached

Peng Zhaoqin Peng Zhaoqin (; born 8 May 1968 in Guangzhou, Guangdong) is a Chinese-born Dutch chess player. In October 2004, she was the eleventh woman ever to be awarded the FIDE title of Grandmaster. She won three times the Chinese women's chess champi ...

Wang Pin Wang Pin (; born December 11, 1974) is a Chinese chess player. She was awarded the title of Woman Grandmaster by FIDE in 1992. Wang was the Chinese national women's champion of 2002. By finishing fifth in the 1991 Women's Interzonal Tournament, ...

and

Qin Kanying Qin Kanying (; born 2 February 1974) is a Chinese chess player who holds the FIDE title of Woman Grandmaster. She is a former Women's World Chess Championship runner-up and five-time Chinese women's champion. Career Qin Kanying won the Women's ...

at the 1991 Interzonal, all of whom qualified for the Candidates tournament. He started as the head coach of the women's team in 1994, leading them to their first silver medal at the

1996 Chess Olympiad The 32nd Chess Olympiad ( hy, 32-րդ Շախմատային օլիմպիադա, ''32-rd Shakhmatayin olimpiadan''), organized by FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both mal ...

, and then four consecutive gold medals from 1998 to 2004. He has been licensed as a FIDE Senior Trainer since 2014.

References

External links