每一次的国象旅行都是生活的一堂课-拉斯维加斯之行

Every Chess Journey is a Life Lesson

每一次的国象旅行都是生活的一堂课

My trip to Las Vegas

我的拉斯维加斯之行

6/22/18 ~ 6/24/18

I am almost entirely sure of this: whenever people go to Las Vegas, the first thing that comes across their minds is, “I gotta go gamble”… Well, that’s different with me.

我几乎可以完全肯定地说：所有人一旦到达拉斯维加斯，他们脑中闪现的第一个念头一定是，“我要去赌一把”……嘿，我可是不一样的。

 

I am a chess player. I go to Las Vegas forchess. If I have chess business, wherever I go, I am on focus mode. Because I have to ——– it is what I do , and what I chose to do.Nobody else chooses for me. I LOVE Chess.

我是一个国际象棋棋手，是为了参加比赛才去的拉斯维加斯。只要是与下棋有关的事，无论我身处何方，我会立刻进入一个全神贯注的状态。因为我必须这样 — 这是我正在做的事，是我自己的选择，而不是别人帮我做的决定。我爱国际象棋。

—— Cindy Lin

 

Chessis,overall,very beneficial. I play chess because I want to improve my skills,I want to improve my personality, I want to make friends, but most important ofall, I want to learn more about sportsmanship. Chess, after all, is a sport,and all sports require sportsmanship. Without words and actions of kindness,support, and encouragement, sports are no fun.

学习国际象棋，总的来说，真是益处多多。我学棋是因为想提高我的各项能力，完善我的性格，交到更多的朋友，但是最重要的，我要学习体育精神。国际象棋，也是一项运动，和所有其它的运动项目一样需要体育精神。没有语言和行动上的善良，支持，和鼓励，运动将会变得无趣乏味。

 

This year, I went on another one of my “chess journeys”, to another land of chess where people work their hardest to have sportsmanship, to have friends, and to have fun. This year’s Las VegasInternational Youth Chess Championships is a typical example. It is a memoryworthy to keep. Right now, I would like to tell you more about my experienceand some great lesson learned in a journal, which I wrote after my trip.

今年，我又开启另一个“国象之旅”，到一个大家尽最大努力去展现运动精神，结交朋友，和享受下棋乐趣的地方，这就是今年在拉斯维加斯举办的国际青少年冠军赛。这是值得珍藏的记忆，于是此刻，我想写下此次的旅行，和你们分享我的体验，以及学习到的经验。

 

My Journey

1:00 A.M. in the night

Thursday, 6/21/18 ~ Friday, 6/22/18

Arrival

 

After a long 4-hour drive to Las Vegas, I was finally able to jump out of our car and stretch my tired body up. Even though exhausted, I was excited. I decided I would work hard the next day, or at leastmy hardest.

A quick, hot bath, and I was dressed up andready to sleep. I fell asleep soon as my head hit the pillow…

在爸爸四个小时的长途驾车之后，我们抵达拉斯维加斯，我终于可以跳出汽车，伸展一下懒腰。尽管身体很疲惫，可是精神却很兴奋。我决定明天开始要努力，至少要尽全力。入住宾馆之后我飞快洗了一个热水澡，准备早点睡觉，没想到一沾上枕头我就睡着了……

9:00 A.M. in the morning

Friday, 6/22/18

First Day, First Race

第一场赛跑

 

A particularly good night’s sleep. I was not asexhausted as yesterday, and I was both excited and nervous to start thecompetition. Actually, I take that back. Chess is NOT a competition. Chess is abattle, a friendly battle between two players. Chess is the strategy of howwell you command you soldiers: your pawns, your knights, you bishops, yourrooks, your queens, and even your precious king. Anyways, it is not acompetition.

一整个晚上我都睡得很好，昨天的疲倦感一扫而空，我既兴奋又紧张地开始了竞争。算了，我收回这句话。国际象棋并不是竞争，而象是作战游戏，是两名棋手之间友好的较量，它比的是你能多好地运用你的战士们：你的兵，你的马，你的象，你的车，你的皇后，甚至是你尊贵的国王，所以无论如何也不能算是竞争。

 

The day went by well. My first competitionstarted at 10:00 A.M., and I went in pretty nervous. Nevertheless, I was muchbetter after the round started, and obtained a great position towards the endof the match. Even though the kid (named Hayden Feinberg) had a rating of 304,he was fighting on. I liked that trait. (At that point, my rating was 661, andI was in the Under 700 section.) I fought my way through the contest againstsome other kids as well, winning all my games until round 4 (of 5).

这一天过得还不错。十点整开始我的第一轮比赛，走进赛场时其实我相当紧张。但是，开赛后我就感觉好多了，整盘棋我一直局面占优，直到最后。尽管我的对手（名叫Hayden Feinberg）的等级分只有304，但他下得很认真。这一点我很欣赏。（我当时的等级分是661，在U700组）我一路拼杀，保持全胜至第四轮（总共5轮）。

 

Before the round, I was determined to winagain. I had won three games in a row. I will probably win a trophy (although Ilater learned that was not the whole point of the competition) if I worked hard enough.

第四轮开始之前，我有想过要继续赢下来。我已经连胜三场了，如果我再努力一下，我就有可能赢得一个奖杯（尽管后来我明白了，奖杯，其实并不是比赛的真正意义所在）。

 

His name is Addison Fort, and he was looking determine as well, embracing himself to fight me. Of course, I was doing just the same. Then it all started.It was a fair match, with both players calculating hard, trying to sneak a move in here and there, hoping their opponents would not see it, hoping to win with a single move.

我的对手名叫Addison Fort，他看上去非常坚定的表情，准备好与我一战。当然，我也是一脸坚毅地看着他。棋局开始了，局面非常均衡的对局，因为我们俩都计算得很仔细，每一步棋都走得很小心，期望对手没有察觉到自己的意图和计划，也期望着某一步对方出错而制胜。

 

 

But “hoping”, I learned, doesn’t work. Hoping your opponents won’t catch it: it’s a fifty-fifty chance. It’s gambling, rightthere in Las Vegas, where people gamble. The only difference is, it’s chessgamble. But whatever it is, gambling is horrible. People lose their money,their house, their everything, by gambling. The thing we were losing here in achess championship was our tactical skills. Hoping your opponents didn’t seesomething, means that you spend your timing hoping, instead of searching fortactics. In games where players are rated 1600 or higher, you can’t just… hope.They don’t blunder any more. You look for something, a series of moves,perhaps, that they have no chance against, and even if they see it, well,they’re going to lose anyways. That’s what tactics are.

但是“期望”，我发现，并不管用。期望你的对手没有抓住机会，只是一半一半的机率。这其实也是一种赌博，就像在这个赌城里，每个人都在玩的一样。唯一的区别，是国际象棋的赌博。但不管是哪种类型的，赌博都是可怕的。人们因赌，输了钱，输了房子，甚至所有的财产。我们因赌，失去了在这个国际象棋冠军赛中提高技战术水平的机会。期望对手没有看见，意味着你在浪费时间期望着，而不是利用时间找到战术机会。等级分1600或更高的棋手对局中，你不能只是……期望。他们不会随便送子，你必须设计好进攻方案，一系列的行棋计划，让对手没有办法抵抗，又或者他们尽管也看到了，却只能眼睁睁地一步步走向失败。这就叫做战术手段。

 

As in for my game, I knew I had little chance because I was “hoping”. Of course, he caught every little move I made. He defended and attacked, and I defended and attacked. In the endgame, all we both had were our kings, one rook each, and a pawn each.

而我的对局，我知道因为我一度在“期望”，所以机会渺渺。当然，他努力在抓住我的每一步之后可能带给他的机会，进攻，防守，我也同样地，进攻，防守。最后，残局时我们都只剩下一个王，一个车，和一个兵。

 

Both of our hopes were to promote our pawns asquickly as possible, but our pawns were right next to each other in the files.When the pawns meet, they’ll capture each other. I finally found a tactic, a pin, against him. I was going to win his pawn! He asked for a draw. Obviously,I answered, “I decline.” So, quickly, he moved, and so did I. But my move was ablunder. He used my pin against myself, and I lost my rook. I bit my lips. My head was whirling, repeating the words, “I’m going to lose, I’m going to lose.”Then, suddenly, I was mad at myself: I should have tied!

我们俩人的小兵处在相邻的两条线上，都希望尽快让小兵生变。当小兵相遇时，会吃掉对方。我终于找到一个战术机会，牵制住他的子力，准备生擒他的小兵。这时对手向我提和，我断然拒绝，“不和。”于是棋局继续进行，我很快发现我的计划其实是送子给对方，他利用反牵制吃了我的车。我紧紧咬着嘴唇，头晕目眩，脑中重复着一句话，“我要输了，我要输了。”忽然间，我对自己刚才的决定非常恼火：我应该接受他的提和！

 

And so I lost round 4. Round five, they pairedme with a tall boy, probably a few years older than me. He had a rating of 480.I beat him, and when I left, I heard his mother say, “What, you lost ?! How???She’s…” She pointed at me. I looked away.So, another lesson learned and will also be used by me. “Don’t judge someone by their looks.” I was satisfied.

我就这样丢了第四轮。第五轮，我的对手是个高个男孩，大约大我几岁。他的等级分是480。我赢了。一起走出赛区的时候，我听见他的妈妈说，“什么，你输了？怎么会？她是……（以下省略人身攻击）”她指着我，我转开了视线。

就这样，我又学了一课，将来也一定用得上。“别以貌取人。”我挺满意这个结果。

The Trophies

I ended up getting 3rd place out of 47 people. Good, but not good enough. AddisonFort came in first place. I knew if I drawed with him, it might have beenbetter —– or worse. I never knew what would happen if something wentdifferent in that one game.

星期五先行开战的国际青少年奖杯赛，我在47人的分组中获得了第3名。成绩不错，但是没有做到最好。Addison Fort获得了冠军。我知道当时如果我接受他的和棋提议，结果可能会更好—或更糟。谁知道呢？我也想象不出事情会往怎样不同的方向演变。

9:00 A.M. in the morning

Saturday, 6/23/18

When the IMPOSSIBLE becomes IM possible

当“不可能”变成“我有可能”

In the Under 14 age group Reserved (a ratingof under 1000), I was 661. My opponent, Isaac Chang, had a rating of 945, which was pretty good. My dad kept telling me, “Why do you care what his rating is?Look for really good players to compete against, not people worse than you!”

在U14 Reserve组，国际青少年冠军赛的第一轮，我的等级分是661，而我的对手IsaacChang是945，相当得高。爸爸一直对我说，“你为什么要在意他的等级分？你要找强手去锻炼，而不是水平比你低的! ”

My response was always, “I’d lose” or “they’renot that bad.” My dad said, “I don’t care about your score, the only thing Icare about is if you improved. If you give a really hard time winning you, evenif he wins, you improved.”

我的回答总是“我会输的”或者“他们并不差”。爸爸说，“我不在乎比赛的结果，我只在乎你有没有取得进步。就算对手最终获胜，但是你让他胜得非常艰难，那也说明你进步了。”

Mom, who was always mad when I lose a game,changed her opinion, too. She agreed with my dad, and said, “Yeah, just improve.” Then she continued, “These kids are good, you can’t beat them.”

妈妈，一个只要我一输棋就发火的人，竟然也转变了态度。她对爸爸说的表示同意，“是的，只要有进步就行。”说完还是补了一枪，“这些孩子很厉害，你赢不了。”

 

 

 

So I went in, all trembling. I shook hands torepresent sportsmanship, then we started. This round, I found another tactic,and I won a pawn. It was a very close game, but I promoted before Isaac, and I checkmated him. My parents were really happy and couldn’t believe I won. But I could hardly believe it myself：it would all have seemed impossible the day before, but today, it was nothing.

于是我就进场了，全身都在发抖。代表体育精神的礼貌性握手之后，我们开始行棋。这一局，我找到了一个战术机会，赚到了一个兵。整盘棋双方咬得很紧，我的小兵快于Isaac先行升变，将杀了他。爸爸妈妈高兴到不敢相信我的胜利，甚至连我自己也简直不敢相信：在昨天这一切都像是不可能的，但是今天，这都不是个事儿。

I won my second game to a 900 something aswell, and was, again, satisfied. Then, for my third game, I tied to Luke Strule,968, one of the highest-rated players in the section. That was good, as well.Although… I had no idea why Luke would offer draw, since I was down two points.But I had nothing to say since the draw benefitted me.

第二轮，我又战胜了一个等级分900多的对手，大家都很满意。第三轮，我和等级分968的Luke Strule握手言和。他是我们比赛分组里等级分最高的选手之一。这个结果也不错，尽管……我完全不知道为什么他向我提和，因为我当时还少了半子。不过和棋对我来说是件好事儿，我也就欣然接受。

 

I got a quick break before I went off for the puzzle contest, and right afterthat, the Grandmaster Simul with GM Sabina Foisor lasted until ten in the evening, and after a quickdinner, I was back in our hotel room, fast asleep. I was totally ready for the last day, and for my possible trophy.

短暂休息之后，我就参加了解题大赛。之后，是特级大师GM Sabina Foisor的车轮赛，到夜里十点才结束。我飞快地吃了晚餐，回到房间里，很快就睡着了。我已经准备好啦，迎接最后一个比赛日，也迎接我可能会赢得的奖杯。

 

 

9:00 A.M. in the morning

Sunday, 6/24/18

“Hard work pays off”

努力工作，终有回报

 

For my first game in the last day, I was fighting so hard. The way I won it, it was actually a “hope”. My opponent,Swapnil Katikaneni (862) didn’t see the checkmate, and thought I just wanted his pawn. Anyways, that’s not the main part. The important thing here was the kindness his mother showed. We’ll talk about that later. Anyways, I tied to two people better than me for the last two rounds, and thought I was able to get atrophy, so I stayed.

最后一天的第一局比赛，我拼得很辛苦。取胜的方式，实际上是一个“期望”。我的对手，Swapnil Katikaneni (等级分862)以为我只是在进攻他的兵，没有看到我准备杀棋。无论如何，这不是关键的。重要的是，他的妈妈所释放的善意，我后面会提到。之后是最后的两轮，我都和高分选手和棋了，然后猜想自己可能可以获得一个奖杯，就留在了赛场。

 

Just before trophies, Swapnil’s family came to our family in a bar in the hotel. His mother was smiling as she approached us.The rest of the family: Swapnil, his brother, and their father, dropped back tolet his mother speak.

颁奖前，我们在酒店的餐馆里巧遇Swapnil一家。他妈妈笑着走近我们，Swapnil和他爸爸及兄弟跟在后面。

“Hi,”she said to me, “my son played you, didn’t he? You were very good! How manypoints do you have now?” “嘿，”她说，“我儿子有一轮和你对阵，对吗？你非常棒！现在总分多少

 

“4.5,” I answered. “4.5，”我回答她。

“Congratulations! Are you waiting for atrophy?” “祝贺你！你在等颁奖吗？”

“Yup!” “是的。”

“Well, congrats! Have a good time.” “再次祝贺！祝你快乐！”

“Thank you.” “谢谢。”

Afterwards, I thought it was very nice of her to do so, and I decided that she was the bravest person I encountered at the Las Vegas festival. Even though her son lost to me, she was kind to step up and congratulate me. It was the deepest memory I had of this chess festival.

我后来觉得，虽然我战胜了她的儿子，她却还能这么说这么做，表现了她非常善良的一面，我也认为她是我这次拉斯维加斯之旅所遇见的最勇敢的人。她充满善意地走过来祝贺我，是这次国际象棋节中让我记忆最深的事。

 

After getting my fifth place trophy (out of 71people), we left. I was still thinking about the most important thing about chess. GM Sabina’s words popped into my mind. “Chess is a long, hard, journey,”I remember her saying, eyes shiny and watering, “you have to fight hard to succeed. But on the way, you make friends, have fun, and everything is worth it. Boys, don’t be mean to the girls. Girls, don’t be afraid of the boys. One of the most important things about chess is: when you end a game of chess,everyone becomes friends, and there are no more battles.”

领取了第五名（全组71人）的奖杯之后，我们离开了。我还在思考对于学习国际象棋来说，最重要的事。GM Sabina的话一直萦绕在我的脑海。“国际象棋是一段漫长的，艰难的，旅途。”我记得她说的时候，眼中有泪光闪动，“你们要拼尽全力地去争取胜利。但是在旅途中，你们会结交到朋友，享受到乐趣，所有的一切都是值得的。男孩们，不要对女孩们不友好；女孩们，不要害怕男孩子。国际象棋最重要的事是：当你结束一盘对局之后，对抗结束了，每个人都成为了朋友。”

 

Yes, of course. I thought more about my threeshort days spent in Las Vegas. Three days of my life. It was easy to fit intoLas Vegas, to talk like Vegans, to eat like Vegans, to laugh like Vegans, andto taste their style. It was all a piece a cake, but on top of that, masteringthe art of chess is not. There are challenges you have to overcome on the climb to the top of the mountain, where all the GM are. But if you work hard enough,you’re bound to be friends with every single piece on the board.

是的，当然是这样。我生命中在拉斯维加斯的短短三天，我想得更多。你很容易融入拉斯维加斯，象当地人一样沟通交流，象当地人一样享受美食，象当地人一样开怀大笑，感受当地人的风采。这都是很容易的事，但是领会国际象棋的艺术性却不容易。就像所有的特级大师一样，登上顶峰的过程中，有许多的挑战和困难要克服。可如果你足够努力，你注定会和棋盘上的每一颗棋子，成为朋友。

 

KEEP PLAYING CHESS, FOR YOU ALL CAN SUCCEED!

坚持学习，终能成功!

 

I am very pleased with my results in the 2018 International Youth Chess Championships. My rating jumped from 661 to 1003, but without the care from certain people, all this would have been impossible.

2018年国际象棋青少年冠军赛，我对自己的表现非常满意。我的等级分从661一跃而至1003。但如果没有一些人的关爱，这一切都是不可能的。

 

I would like to give some acknowledgement to all the encouragingpeople that helped me succeed in this year’s Las Vegas Chess Festival.

我想对一些在今年拉斯维加斯国际象棋节中，帮助和激励我的人们致敬.

Jason 老师 worked so hard to go over games and help the kids who arecompeting in the tournament. He was very kind to spend all his time outside thetournament room, instructing all the Wing Chess players, and giving up time toeven eat. Thank you, Coach Jason, for encouraging me before my last round, instructing me to think efficiently, and to not waste time.

Jason老师非常辛苦地为比赛的小棋手们复盘，提供帮助。在比赛大厅外，他把所有的时间都花在指导华弈棋院的参赛棋手，连吃饭喝水的时间都没有。谢谢你，Jason老师，在我最后一轮的时候，特别鼓励我，让我注意计算的效率，不要浪费时间。

 

Harlin老师， thank you for being my chess teacher and spending time and hardwork on my success!

Harlin老师，谢谢你作为我的国际象棋教练，为我的成功，所花的时间和付出的心血!

 

Thank you so much, Mom and Dad, foraccompanying me and supporting me throughout the tournament.

爸爸妈妈，非常感谢你们，在这三天的赛程中，陪伴我，支持我。

 

Thank you, fellow Wing Chess players, for learning the wonderful art of chess with me!!!

谢谢你们，华弈棋院的小伙伴们，和我一起学习国际象棋的完美艺术！！！