Zhang Zhong (; born 5 September 1978) is a Chinese

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 ...

grandmaster, a twice Chinese champion and the 2005 Asian champion. In 1998, he became China's 9th Grandmaster.

Career

Zhang Zhong finished second at the

World Junior Chess Championship The World Junior Chess Championship is an under-20 chess tournament (players must have been under 20 years old on 1 January in the year of competition) organized by the World Chess Federation (FIDE). The idea was the brainchild of William Ritso ...

twice, in 1996 and 1998. He won 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 2001 and 2003. In 2002 he scored 8.5/12 points at the 35th Chess Olympiad in

Bled Bled (; german: Veldes,''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 146. in older sources also ''Feldes'') is a town on Lake Bled in the Upper C ...

and won the 7th World University Chess Championship in

Ulaanbaatar Ulaanbaatar (; mn, Улаанбаатар, , "Red Hero"), previously anglicized as Ulan Bator, is the capital and most populous city of Mongolia. It is the coldest capital city in the world, on average. The municipality is located in north ce ...

. Zhang Zhong was clear first with a score of 11/13 at the Corus B tournament in

Wijk aan Zee Wijk aan Zee ( literally ''Neighborhood at Sea'') is a village on the coast of the North Sea in the municipality of Beverwijk, the province of North Holland of the Netherlands. The prestigious Tata Steel Chess Tournament (formerly called the Coru ...

in 2003, three points ahead of his nearest rival. This result qualified him for the prestigious main Corus A tournament in 2004, in which he scored 5/13. He won the 2005

Asian Chess Championship The Asian Chess Championship is a chess tournament open to all players from Asian chess federations ( FIDE zones from 3.1 to 3.7). It's held with the Swiss system and consists in two divisions, Open and Women's, the latter of which is reserved to f ...

to qualify for the

FIDE World Cup The FIDE World Cup refers to three different events over the years. Since 2000, it has been a major chess event organized by FIDE, the International Chess Federation. Since 2005, it has been a 128-player single-elimination chess tournament, form ...

held that year, where he beat Mikhail Kobalia in the first round, but lost to Ivan Sokolov in the second. In 2007 he transferred national federations to represent Singapore. In 2008, he won

ASEAN ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, militar ...

Chess Circuit Tournament in

Tarakan Tarakan is an island and the largest city of the Indonesian province of North Kalimantan. The island city is located in northern Borneo, midway along the coast of the province. The city boundaries are co-extensive with the island (including a co ...

. In 2014, he tied for 1st–3rd with

Nguyễn Ngọc Trường Sơn Nguyễn Ngọc Trường Sơn (; born 23 February 1990) is a Vietnamese chess player. He is the youngest Vietnamese ever to become a Grandmaster, and one of the youngest grandmasters in the history of the game, having qualified for the title ...

and

Lê Quang Liêm Lê Quang Liêm (born 13 March 1991) is a Vietnamese chess grandmaster, the top-ranked of his country. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2006. Liêm is the current Asian champion and was the World Blitz Chess Champion in 2013. ...

, placing second on tiebreak, at the 4th HDBank Cup in

Ho Chi Minh City , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

, and won the 11th IGB Dato' Athur Tan Malaysia Open in

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

. In 2017 Zhang moved back to the Chinese federation.

China Chess League

Zhang Zhong plays for

China Mobile China Mobile is the trade name of both China Mobile Limited () and its ultimate controlling shareholder, China Mobile Communications Group Co., Ltd. (, formerly known as China Mobile Communications Corporation, "CMCC"), a Chinese state-ownedSt ...

Group

Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Romanization, alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a Direct-administered municipalities of China, municipality in Southwes ...

Company Ltd

chess club A chess club is a club formed for the purpose of playing the board game of chess. Chess clubs often provide for both informal and tournament games and sometimes offer league play. Traditionally clubs host over the board, face to face chess more t ...

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 ...

(CCL).

Personal life

He is married to WGM

Li Ruofan Li Ruofan (; born April 30, 1978) is a Chinese chess player who holds the FIDE titles of International Master (IM) and Woman Grandmaster (WGM). Notable title victories include the 2001 Asian Women's Chess Championship in Chennai, and the 2006 ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zhang, Zhong 1978 births Living people Chess grandmasters Chess Olympiad competitors Chinese emigrants to Singapore Singaporean sportspeople of Chinese descent Singaporean chess players Chess players from Chongqing