The Jiangsu International Cultural Exchange Center and Jiangsu Association of Chess Sports held a special match on Nov 8, at which eight Xiangqi players from Germany and Britain played against the joint team of Jiangsu Xiangqi Academy and Nanjing Youngsters’ Palace.
During the match, German Xiangqi player Michael Naegler matched against 10 Xiangqi fans from Nanjing at the same time. Naegler is a 58-year-old doctor. He learnt how to play Xiangqi at a roadside stand when he was on a business trip to Nanjing in 1988, and has won the German Xiangqi Contest singles for six times and participated in World Xiangqi Championship 10 times to date.
Another German player Ryder said “it’s not easy to learn Chinese Xiangqi. You have to learn Chinese characters and understand China’s history and culture.” Ryder met Chinese girl Wu Caifang in a match in Britain in 2000 and married her later. Today Ryder is a theorist and senior lecturer at German Xiangxi Federation and has written many books and brochures to introduce and popularize this sport.
