Interview with WIM Lan Yao by Mark Rivlin
2022 Chessable English Women’s Champion
WIM Yan Lao recently won the 2022 Chessable English Women’s Championship with an excellent 6/7. This was preceded by her victory at the English Women’s Rapidplay at the London Chess Classic in December 2021. Combining chess with her studies at University College London (UCL), she is also a FIDE trainer and writes and broadcasts about the history of chess.
Tell us about your tournament victories.
I was excited when I won the English Women’s Rapidplay. At that time I was really busy with my university studies and did not have much time for chess. Also, a lot of strong players such as Harriet Hunt participated in the tournament. At the Rapidplay, I focused on each of my own games without concern for other players’ results and rankings. I took the lead on the first day and did not sleep well. On the second day I tried to play solidly, drawing the other three games, and still managed to win the tournament. At the Chessable English Women’s Championship I lost in the second round but I adjusted my mental state and won the rest of the games.
Your quirky YouTube videos on the history of chess are fascinating; I particularly like the one on smoking during matches. How do you come up with the topics you are covering?
Initially, I established a programme called Mustachess with Peter Kokol, in which I wrote about chess history on the WeChat channel in Chinese and English. Topics included chess-related fields such as chess psychology, culture and education. We also post these articles on mustachess.com. I do thorough research about chess history before writing these articles, including the origin and development of chess, personal stories and some controversial issues around world champions. These articles gradually became popular among Chinese chess lovers.
I then went on to make videos about these topics, presenting chess history in a more vivid style. I carefully selected clothes and hairstyles, adjusted the lighting, and sometimes used different accents and tones according to different topics to make my narrative more intriguing and at the same time instructive to the audience.
You have peaked at 2342 FIDE and your current rating is 2276. What are your chess ambitions for the next few years?
I hope to achieve the WGM title. Also, I hope to achieve more good results in big events such as the Olympiad and the European team and individual championships.
You are about to graduate from UCL. What are your future career plans outside of chess?
I will graduate from UCL with a Bachelor’s degree this summer and will continue to take a Master’s degree at UCL. I studied History for my Bachelor’s degree and will major in History Education for the Master’s. I have years of experience teaching History and other humanities subjects, so I am thinking about teaching History or other relevant subjects in secondary schools.
You are now playing under the England flag. Why did you decide to play for England, rather than your native China? And how was the transition from the Chinese Chess Association to the ECF?
I am studying in London, and I hope to work in England after graduation. Transferring to England will give me more chances to play in local tournaments. More importantly, the Chinese Chess Association values chess players who give up school and completely focus on chess. They do not support those who want to keep a balance between chess and academia. When I was 14, I won the Chinese National Youth Championship, ahead of a professional chess player who had completely given up school. One famous national team trainer told me that he was willing to offer me training. He said that it was impossible to play chess well while studying, and refused to teach me unless I gave up school.
During those years most coaches were not willing to work with me, and I hardly played in national tournaments while other professional players weaker than me were invited. In England it is different. Many strong players here attend top universities, and make great contributions in other fields besides chess.
I really like the chess culture and atmosphere in England. I have studied the history of chess in England and appreciate the educational ideas of Chess in Schools and Communities. Having played in several tournaments here, I have found that English chess players are friendly and willing to help each other.
My transition was really successful as the ECF was happy for me to represent England. The Chinese Chess Association had called me and said that I should think carefully before making the decision, but they respected and enabled my decision.
How different is the approach to chess between China and England?
In China there is a clear distinction between those who want to become professional chess players and those who play as a hobby. Sometimes parents get anxious when seeing other children improving quickly, and hope that their children can spend more time on chess and improve faster. For professional chess players China has efficient training for quick improvement. These players often play one to three classical games a day, and trainers will immediately review their games. Before important events they receive closed training for months. A lot of Chinese chess players improve quickly, but the problem is that it can be too stressful, and chess becomes the only thing in their lives.
Staying in provincial or national teams and playing chess tournaments are their main source of income. Provincial or national teams provide them with monthly salaries, and will give them extra bonuses if they play well in significant tournaments. Also, some Chinese universities have the policy of admitting strong chess players. In England I do coaching, and see many players take chess as a lifelong hobby. Those who are more talented study more, and spend more time on training and playing tournaments. I feel that compared to China they feel less anxious, and enjoy the process of playing chess more. Also, they do not give up school to become professional chess players. In addition, unlike in China, English players usually do not play chess for a living or for the purpose of getting into good universities. But a potential negative side of this aspect is that some players may lose the motivation for playing chess and give up chess for other pursuits that have better financial returns.
Which players and coaches have had the most influence on your chess career?
Actually, quite a lot of players have had great influences on me, varying from world champions to English chess celebrities. I really admire those who play chess at a high level and also succeed in other areas. They show how chess can positively influence other aspects of life.
I have had a lot of coaches, but currently none of them have been able to stay with me for a long time. I am still waiting for a coach who can inspire my chess career.
What ideas do you have to improve women's chess in the UK?
I think many young female chess players in the UK are talented, but the main problem is that they lack motivation. Some of them give up chess when they attend secondary school because they lack support for playing in national or international tournaments, and unlike in the US and China, chess cannot help them to get into good universities. I think there should be more WIM and WGM norm events along with tournament bonuses for girls.
In addition, it would be great if good universities could have policies of admitting strong chess players, even if they may have slightly lower grades in exams. For stronger female players who regularly play for the national team, I think a good way to improve their level is to train with strong male players.
Please show us an analysed game that you particularly enjoyed.
The whole game is too long, so I will just show the most exciting part of it.
Smith, Olivia - Yao, Lan
ECF Women’s Norm Event Round 1
20…Rc8 21.a4 Rc6
Protecting the d6 pawn and planning to play b5 on the next move. Also good is 21...g5, preventing f4.
22.f4 Ng4 23.Red3 b5!?
Here I chose to take a risk and try to make my rooks more active.
24.axb5 axb5 25.R1d2
25.Nxb5 Rb8 26.Nxd6 (26.Rc3 Rxc3 27.Nxc3 Rxb2 28.Rd2 Ne3; 26.Rxd6 Rxc2 27.f5 Bb3 28.Rd7+ Kf6) 26...Rxc2 27.b3 g6 (27...Rxb3 28.Rxb3 Bxb3 29.Nf5+ Kf6 30.Rd6+ Be6=) ;
The best move is 25.Bf3! preparing f5. 25…Nf6 (25...Nh2 26.Be2 exf4 27.gxf4 b4 28.Nd5+ Bxd5 29.Rxd5 Rxc2 30.R5d2 b3 (30...Rxd2 31.Rxd2 Rh4 32.Kg2 Rxf4 (32...Ng4 33.Kg3+–) 33.Kxh2 Rxe4 34.Bf3=) 31.Rxc2 bxc2 32.Rc1 Rh4 33.Rxc2 Ng4=) 26.R3d2 b4 27.Nb5
25...Ra6
Also good is 25...b4 26.Nd5+ Bxd5 27.exd5 Ra6 28.Bf3 Nf6 29.fxe5 dxe5 30.d6+ Ke6
26.Nd5+?
26.Bf3! b4 27.Nd1 (27.Nd5+ Bxd5 28.exd5 Nf6 29.fxe5 dxe5 30.d6+ Kd7) 27...Nf6
26...Bxd5 27.Rxd5 Rha8 28.Bf3 Ra1+ 29.Bd1 R8a6
This move gives White chances to achieve an equal position. The best move is 29...Ne3! 30.Rxd6 Nc4 31.Rd7+ Ke8! 32.R2d3 (32.R2d5 Nb6–+) 32...Nxb2 33.R3d5 Rc8 34.Kg2 Rxd1 35.Rxd1 Nxd1 36.Rxd1 Rxc2+–+
30.R5d3
30.Rxb5! Ne3 31.Kf2 the knight is captured. 31…Nxd1+ 32.Ke2 Nxb2 33.Rxb2=
30...Nf6 31.Re2 Rb1 32.b3 Raa1 33.Re1 Nxe4–+