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A great game allows a chess fan and a legend to meet on a board
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A delighted John Chan, a research fellow in Singapore, after his game with Xie Jun, the first Asian woman to become a grandmaster.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF JOHN CHAN
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It’s Saturday afternoon and John Chan, 32, is possibly in a joyous daze. You know when you win a small lottery. Or catch an absurdly sized fish. Or find you incredibly topped your exam. Actually this might be sweeter. He’s a research fellow at the Singapore University of Technology and Design and he’s just beaten Xie Jun, a former world chess champion.
Yes, it’s an exhibition, where she played against 10 people simultaneously. And, yes, the charming Xie, 54, the first Asian woman to become a grandmaster, is hardly stretching herself. But that’s scarcely the point, neither is the result.
