Master profile
Hong Zhi
洪智
By the Xiangqi Arena editorial team ·
- Games
- 656
- Era covered
- 1995–2008
- Archive record
- 258W · 277D · 121L
The player
Hong Zhi, born in Wuhan in 1980, is the 2005 national individual champion and the men’s individual gold medallist at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games. Named a grandmaster in 2005, he was one of the most powerful players of his generation.
He was renowned as a middlegame tactician, and over a long career represented Jilin, Chongqing, Shanghai and Hubei in turn - the many moves earning him the name 'Wandering Chess King', alongside the grander 'Heavenly King Hong'.
The games here catch him at full power against former champions, in the sharp tactical positions where he was at his most dangerous.
Hong Zhi - Tao Hanming, 2007
2007 Yitai Cup National Individual Championship · 2007 · Tao Hanming (red) vs Hong Zhi (black)
Hong Zhi, the powerful 2006 national champion, takes Black against former champion Tao Hanming - a meeting of two title-holders at the individual championship. At sixty plies, a short, sharp win.
The soldiers clash on move fifteen and the game opens fast, six captures in ten moves through the thirties. Hong’s pieces flood forward and Tao is left with a broken structure and a soldier down; he resigns before the ending. Hong Zhi at full power was as hard to stop as anyone of his generation.
Black won · 30 moves
The starting position.
Key moments
All the moves
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.
- 4.
- 5.
- 6.
- 7.
- 8.
- 9.
- 10.
- 11.
- 12.
- 13.
- 14.
- 15.
- 16.
- 17.
- 18.
- 19.
- 20.
- 21.
- 22.
- 23.
- 24.
- 25.
- 26.
- 27.
- 28.
- 29.
- 30.
Hong Zhi - Zhao Guorong, 2006
2006 Qixin Golf Cup National League · 2006 · Hong Zhi (red) vs Zhao Guorong (black)
Hong Zhi with red against the veteran champion Zhao Guorong, in a long league battle of 121 plies. Two hard hitters, and a game that stays balanced deep into the ending before Hong finds the way through.
An early soldier falls on move eight, the sharpest exchanges come around move ten, and from there it is a long technical fight that Hong wins by a thread of extra activity. Grinding down Zhao Guorong takes real endurance; Hong had it.
Red won · 61 moves
The starting position.
Key moments
All the moves
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.
- 4.
- 5.
- 6.
- 7.
- 8.
- 9.
- 10.
- 11.
- 12.
- 13.
- 14.
- 15.
- 16.
- 17.
- 18.
- 19.
- 20.
- 21.
- 22.
- 23.
- 24.
- 25.
- 26.
- 27.
- 28.
- 29.
- 30.
- 31.
- 32.
- 33.
- 34.
- 35.
- 36.
- 37.
- 38.
- 39.
- 40.
- 41.
- 42.
- 43.
- 44.
- 45.
- 46.
- 47.
- 48.
- 49.
- 50.
- 51.
- 52.
- 53.
- 54.
- 55.
- 56.
- 57.
- 58.
- 59.
- 60.
- 61.
Study the games yourself
Members replay any archive game move by move with engine analysis, search the opening explorer, and filter every master’s games by opponent and era. A free account includes five archive replays a day.