Local Girl Makes the Right Moves

By Janice Fae Mitchell Guard Staff Writer Published: Wednesday, May 14, 2008 The Batesville Daily Guard Her heart tells her she wants to be a cardiac surgeon, but for now she’d be happy to make the right moves and say, “Checkmate.” Twelve-year-old Crystal Qian, a Batesville seventh-grader, is the top performer among female scholastic players in Arkansas. She has qualified for the Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls chess tournament to be held this summer, July 27-Aug. 1, at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. “My dad wants me to place, and personally I’d love it if I place, but I’m practicing because I think it’s fun, and I’m practicing because I think when I go to Texas it’s going to be rewarding,” Crystal said. She said she’s looking forward to some sightseeing as well. The invitational is named after Dr. Susan Polgar, a women’s world champion and holder of a number of world championship and Olympiad titles. The tournament will include the top female scholastic players whose ages are under 19 years old from all 50 states. This will be Crystal’s first time as Arkansas’ representative to the Polgar tournament. “I’m practicing. Every day I do about 100 chess problems. They’re like puzzles, and you determine the best position for the next move,” and then when she’s done she plays against other people on the server, Crystal said. The Arkansas Chess Federation and the Susan Polgar Foundation are supplying some funds, but she has to earn the rest herself. “I have enough saved up for that just in case. When I grow up I want to go to Oxford in England and become a cardiac surgeon so most of the money is saved up for that, but I might take some out and maybe do something at the fair like play the piano.” Crystal started to play chess three years ago when her family moved to Batesville in the summer of 2005. “I’m glad she is going to play against the older girls with more experience. She will probably learn from them,” said her mother, Xiaojie “Sunny” Shang. “We want to thank the chess program which got her started. It was provided by Jack Sanders, the principal at Central Magnet.” Crystal’s father, Dr. Jason Qian, said chess is one of his favorite hobbies. Due to a busy graduate school schedule, he was unable to teach her chess until they moved to Batesville. Qian and Shang work at Life Plus International. With his help, chess club members at Central Magnet learned quickly and became more interested in chess. Within a few months, Crystal was able to defeat all chess club members, including those with a few years of experience. In April 2006, Crystal won the first scholastic tournament in Batesville. She had the only perfect score. That June, she attended her first United States Chess Federation rated tournament and won first place in the unrated chess classification. Two months later, she defeated an experienced adult player at the Arkansas State Championship in Hot Springs. Within two years, Crystal has played in more than 20 USCF rated and unrated scholastic chess tournaments, winning first place in the Mid-South Scholastic chess tournament at Memphis and third place at the Arkansas Blitz Championship. “Passing this talent to my child has long been my dream,” Qian said. As the 2006 Arkansas G/60 State champion and tournament director of Batesville Chess Club, Qian has promoted local interest in chess among scholastic players. “Chess can help and influence life. It’s been known for years that chess is a wonderful tool to enhance the minds of youngsters and prevent or delay Alzheimer’s,” Qian added. “You need to recognize the patterns, calculate following moves and manage the consequences. Chess helps nurture and develop critical thinking skills. It is an outstanding preparation for being able to cope with the real world in our daily lives.” Trophies and plaques line the walls and tables in a room of their home, including a big trophy Crystal won May 3 at the annual Arkansas Scholastic Chess Championship in Bald Knob that won her a slot in the invitational. Crystal also has “hobbies,” and she takes them seriously. She dabbles in artwork, landscaping and tapestries, music practice (piano and French horn) and a chess game with her father — in between homework. “Some kids have played this mind game as early as age 4,” her father said. “It is never too late to start.”