VISION | AUDIO | |
ONE OF THE FASTEST GROWING SPORTS IN AUSTRALIA IS CHESS AND A 10 YEAR OLD... UPSOT: Yifei: I’m going to smack you. VO:...IS REPRESENTING AUSTRALIA ON THE WORLD STAGE Team: Australia! Female commentator: He's a huge talent. very impressive. COACH: I dunno how to compare that. Say for example, music to Beethoven VO: But how will this CHILD GENIUS stack up against THE WORLD’S BEST JUNIORS? Rei-Bo: He has a lot of things to learn. He just plays very fast and just misses a chance of winning. Yifei: oh my god Randy what did you do? Now I’m losing! | ||
THE KIDS’ GAMBIT | ||
1 | LOC: INT., NORTHS CHESS CLUB | VO Chess is… a complicated game 16 pieces… An infinite number of moves… FOR MANY, CHESS IS THE ULTIMATE IQ TEST AND TEACHES IMPORTANT LIFE LESSONS Coach Zhao: Chess is very good for your discipline. You have to display patience, you have to be very persistent. But also I think you have to fight against a little bit your fears and demons as well to be a really, really strong player. |
2 | Yifei playing chess STRAP: Robert Sunaryo, NSW Chess Champion | AMONG THE PLAYERS HERE TONIGHT IS ONE OF AUSTRALIA’S TOP JUNIORS Yifei Hu is already on his way to being a grandmaster ROBERT: This guy is a young talent, he’s one of the best in Australia right now |
3 | AUSTRALIAN GRANDMASTERS Moulthun Ly - Cambodia Zong-Yuan Zhao - China Justin Tan - Wales Temur Kuybokarov - Uzbekistan Julia Ryjanova - Russia Jilin Zhang - China Max Illingworth - Australia David C Smerdon – Australia Anton Smirnov – Australia Darryl Johansen – Australia Bobby Cheng - NZ Ian Rogers - Australia | VO Australia only has 12 Grandmasters More than half of whom have migrant heritage Like Yifei’s coach, Zong-Yuan Zhao |
4 | Coach IV | Coach Zhao: Yeah, so I learned chess for one year in Beijing, China. And then it's very much connected, I guess to my story as an immigrant to Australia because when I came to Australia I didn't speak too much English and chess was a way for me to connect socially. And I kept working on it until I became a grandmaster. |
5 | Bobby Fischer Against the World clips QUEEN’S GAMBIT clips | VO: The most famous Grandmaster of all time is American Bobby Fischer “Upsot: Now for the 1st time, we are looking at Bobby Fischer, the man who 8 times has won the US Open...” VO: When he played Russia’s Boris Spassky in 1972, it was dubbed the match of the century Millions tuned in to watch the hours- long matches live on TV 50 years later, young Australians went nuts over another chess TV event The Queens Gambit made the game seem cool and sophisticated and has contributed to a recent spike in Chess’ popularity |
7 | EXT. STREETS / SUBURB VIBE EXT. HOUSE INT. ROOM | Yifei: What should I say to the people? Rhiona: Just say a big hello. Yifei: Hello. I’m Yifei Hu. I’m ten years old. I love playing chess, like a lot. Rhiona: Yifei do you want to tell me about your trophies? Yifei: Yeah, The best one is this one. |
TROPHIES | Rhiona: Why is that? Yifei: Because it's a perpetual trophy. So my name is engraved and it'll be stayed there permanently. There’s the Under 15s chess champion. This ones the blitz. Under 12. Got it pretty smoothly. Got 9 out of 9. | |
8 | Coach Zhao: So Yifei shows some natural inclination for chess. So for example, he has what I would suggest a very, very natural understanding of the game. Yifei: There’s the engrave. Coach: He displays remarkable confidence for someone so young. I dunno how to compare that. Say for example, music for example to Beethoven's. There is some innate sense of what he needs to be doing in chess and he can feel that. | |
9 | GFX chess battle | VO Yifei’s strong instincts give him a massive advantage over his peers And he knows it... Yifei: It makes you so powerful. Even when they're winning…When I offer a draw they’re still going to accept it because they know I’m really powerful and they’re very scared. It’s clear that Yifei sees chess as more than just a tabletop game… |
10 | GFX chess battle | Yifei: Chess is kind of a battlefield, like you have to draw your army and place them on the battlefield… You need help from other pieces, like support.You know pawns, they fight against each other and the kings battle each other, they capture pieces…So for example...he’s trying to light TNT and throw it to me but I put a wall so now he can’t break then he grabs more TNT and then throws it at the wall and throws it at me. |
11 | Yifei: Hey bear, say something… I guess he doesn’t want to say anything… Ok so let’s continue… | |
12 | Yifei’s next battle is taking place in the Netherlands… at the U16 World Youth Olympiad HE’LL BE THE YOUNGEST PLAYER AT THE TOURNAMENT Yifei: It’s like my dream has come true to compete on the international stage with my friends. Rhiona: What do you want to do in the Netherlands? Apart from play chess? Yifei: I want to have ice cream | |
13 | PARENTS AT DINNER | Rhiona: How are you guys feeling about that trip? Wei: Yeah, it would be quite exciting. But it will be obviously a nervous trip. I think every day I'm just going to be wandering around outside of the tournament. [laughs] Rhiona: He does seem very calm for an overseas tournament. Are you guys more nervous than he is? Ji: We get that sort of anxiety. What about if he doesn’t do well? I mean that's how I feel. And I'll get a bit more pressure and then that pressure will be back on him. Rhiona: Where do you think that pressure comes from? Ji: Maybe it’s our cultural background. And you know… we don't learn to fail I guess. You know every time we put time and effort, you just want to go in and smash… whether it’s exam or whatever you do you just wanna get to the top. That's the mentality, you know VO |
TRANSITION TO YIFEI GETTING READY PUTTING SHIRT ON | But in this tournament, Yifei’s not fighting alone He’ll be in a team with Australia’s top junior players Ji: It’s a great honour to be able to represent. Not everyone you know can easily get that opportunity. To be able to represent Australia to you know to compete on the international stage I think is itself already an achievement. Wei: It’s a great shirt. Let me have a look. You’ve got your name here and also Australia on your shirt. Let’s fight & get great result | |
14 | Eindhoven streets; externals of venue EXTERNALS OF PLAYING VENUE COMMENTATORS | VO The FIDE World Youth Under 16 Chess Olympiad is a prestigious annual event This year, it’s taking place in Eindhoven.. A tech hub of the Netherlands Anna-Maja: I’m super excited to be commentating on this event. I’ve seen the players today and they’re pretty young. And it’s awesome to see young talent representing the national teams at such a huge event. Stefan: Yeah it is.. You feel old right when you walk into the playing hall… AM: Yes [laughs] |
15 | TEAMS ARRIVING | VO: MANY SEE THESE INTERNATIONAL CHESS TOURNAMENTS AS A GLOBAL IQ COMPETITION Upsot: High 5! High 5 High 5! |
A battle of the brains... | ||
16 | AUSSIE TEAM ARRIVING AUSSIE TEAM DOING THEIR HUDDLE | Australia has sent two teams to compete And guiding them through it… is Coach Zong-Yuan Zhao Coach Zhao: 1, 2, 3. Australia. |
17 | VO THE TOURNAMENT HAS 9 ROUNDS AND TEAMS ARE COMPETING FOR THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF MATCH WINS With 62 other teams at the tournament, Australia has some stiff competition KENYA: Chess is not that sponsored in Kenya. We usually have to pay for ourselves to go to international tournaments. Rhiona: What can you gain from being a chess champion? KENYA: I think I can gain a scholarship and also I can help others with my talent. KENYA: If it gives us publicity that’s quite good that could open up doors in education. For other countries, it’s national pride that’s at stake Rhiona - How do you feel when you think about how you’re representing Hungary overseas? Gál Zsóka - This is a big honour that I can represent Hungary and at the same time it’s motivation. Rhiona - And when you look around, which is the strongest team? Gál Zsóka - I would say the Chinese team. I |
also think they’re going to win the tournament. Lu Miaoyi - I like the feeling of fighting during chess matches. I also like the feeling of not being defeated by frustration when facing difficulties. I think that perseverance is very important for good chess players. VO FOR TEAM AUSTRALIA, THE GOAL IS TO PLAY ON THE TOP FLOOR OF THE TOURNAMENT Coach: The top floor is reserved for the top 11 boards, the to p 22 teams currently in the tournament. Rhiona: So is the goal to get to the top floor? Coach: the goal is definitely to get to the top floor and stay there. | ||
19 | Australian: All the best. Chao Xin: Thank you. VO Today, Yifei is facing off against one of the few players close to his age WITH MINUTES BEFORE THE START – HE'S A LITTLE RESTLESS Yifei: I’m going to get myself a drink of water… Q How are you feeling about this game? Rafail Antoniou: I am pleased to play this game. Q Do you think that you could win? Rafail Antoniou: Yes I think I will win. VO Yifei is flanked by his 16-year-old teammates -- |
On the top rated board, Rebo Ruigen on board 2 And Chao-Xin on board 4 -- Play is about to begin Arbiter: I think it is 4 o’clock again. Please start your games! And once it kicks off, it’s silence on the floor… | ||
20 | YIFEI vs CYPRUS | Yifei is moving quickly and confidently… BUT IN AN UNEXPECTED TURN, HE LOSES HIS QUEEN 20 MINUTES IN…HE PROMOTES A PAWN INTO A NEW QUEEN AND SECONDS LATER... Yifei: I moved my queen to deliver checkmate |
21 | Yifei walking out | Yifei: He just blundered… He blundered a whole exchange… |
22 | Yifei: Rook B1, Queen C8. OK, Bishop H3... F5 was a PTC Yifei has just finished his game with Cyprus and he’s so excited about his win that he’s showing his opponent all of the moves they made. But I’m not sure that this kid’s very comfortable with having his mistakes pointed out to him. | |
23 | Yifei showing Cyprus his mistakes | Yifei: Did you think of Queen E7? (Pause.) Yifei: OK, I’ll take that as a yes. |
Yifei: That was so quick. I didn’t expect it to be that quick. Wanna play a friendly game? | ||
24 | RECAP OUTSIDE GFX through here | Yifei: It was like a really smooth game. He never stood a chance EVEN AT AN INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION - YIFEI VISUALISES HIS MATCHES IN A UNIQUE WAY Yifei: It was kind of like a clash because when the pawns charge against each other, it's like they're fighting Rhiona: When you picture the army, can you describe what that looks like? Yifei: They're kind of using swords, using dual swords. It's like sometimes magic for example, like a hammer for example. A pawn comes and then you hit out and get a home run. Get a home run. (WHOOSH) |
25 | DINNER SCENES | VO Back at the hotel, the team is celebrating their wins across the board Coach Zhao: We won four zero in the afternoon against Cyprus. So everyone's a hundred percent today from team one. Great feeling. And we're nearly onto the top floor. So just one more four zero and I'll be happy. [boys laugh] Coach: Yifei, do you still want the ice cream? Yifei: Is it chocolate? Coach: Only if you win. Yifei: Is it chocolate? Coach: Only if you win. (Everyone laughs) After dinner, they still can’t get enough… and the whole team is practising their skills |
26 | Coach: This is a game of transfer between two teams. Basically one side is taking pieces and giving it to their partner. Chloe: You practise playing aggressively and attacking. Coach: You can challenge yourself to think quickly, you can look at patterns… Yifei: Quick, queen! Coach: You can also try to beat each other in Yifei’s case -- very, very important. | |
27 | TEAM PLAYING FOR FUN | With Yifei around, these games quickly turn into absolute chaos Yifei: Rhiona can’t. Rhiona can’t. Rhiona: I don’t even know what to do. Wei UPSOT: If you win you go to the tournament! Yifei: She’s so terrible! She doesn’t know what to do. Rhiona: I’m trying! Yifei: You didn’t tap your clock. Yifei is definitely building his confidence here… Yifei: I win easily, I win easily! I won! |
28 | And his teammates are copping a few strays Yifei: You're the dumbest teammate ever. | |
29 | Rebo iv | Rebo: He’s very naughty [laughs] I always call him a little monkey. Yifei: OK, new rule: 100%, Rebo can’t join. |
Rebo: He’s naughty because he doesn’t know the line beyond what is correct joke. Sometimes he just hurts us by accident because he thinks something is funny. VO Despite Yifei’s naughty moments, team leader Rebo has taken him under his wing Rebo: I think he’s very young. I want him to know that he’s the greatest at his age in Australia and he has a bright future. And hopefully I can teach him some useful chess skills because he’s the future of Australia. As the strongest player on the team, Rebo has some lessons to impart Rebo: He has a lot of things to learn. Yifei: oh my god Randy what did you do? Now I’m losing! Rebo: he needs to take more time to think in some critical positions. Yifei: I told you to give me a knight & then you refuse to. Rebo: He just plays very fast and just misses a chance of winning… misses a chance to save the game. | ||
32 | VO The tournament is now in full swing And this morning, a lot of teams are strategising before their next round Cayman Islands coach: Listen to me. No, please listen to me. We are playing safe, passive games! | |
33 | FOR MANY TEAMS THERE’S A LOT AT STAKE |
Coach Zhao: For a lot of the smaller countries, I would say chess is a way for them to win, recognise, to get recognition on the international stage. I actually know some countries have given 16 year olds like a house for getting a certain result. And that's a big deal in some countries because there are some people living there who don't get a house their whole lives. So it's really big for a teenager to win a car, win a house, and their parents support their whole family. So it's a big deal for them. | ||
34 | WEI PACING | VO After yesterday’s win, team Australia looks confident as they take on Estonia But outside Yifei’s dad is nervously pacing. Wei: This is the first time they’re playing with quite a strong team and hopefully they do their best and keep on moving forward. the reason it gets me nervous is we still try to have a good result. Not only for himself. This time is a little bit different because it’s an Olympiad. He’s also representing Australia so I’d like for him to win to contribute to the whole result of the Australian team. |
35 | Yifei walking out | VO But he emerges sooner than expected Yifei: Dad, I lost! Wei: What happened? |
36 | OUTSIDE CHAT | Yifei: I don’t remember where I went wrong. Wei: Did that feel sad? Yifei: Yes VO With just a few more games to go, Yifei’s worried he’s set the team back Yifei: They’re going to be wondering why, like how did you lose? |
Yifei: They’ll be angry like how did you miss that. We have to try to win all of our games so then we can go forwards and hopefully be on the top floor. Rhiona: You really wanna be on the top floor, huh? Yifei: Yeah, it’s really good. Rhiona: What’s going to make you feel better? Yifei: Winning. Rhiona: Is there anything else that would cheer you up? Yifei: No. | ||
37 | VIDEO CALL WITH MUM | VO THE YOUNG CHAMPION IS NOT USED TO THE DISAPPOINTMENT THAT COMES WITH LOSING It seems there is only one thing left to do… UPSOT Call mum Ji: So what happened? Yifei: I lost. Ji: It’s ok… Just do well next round. How are you? How do you feel? Was it a tough game? Yifei: Yeah Ji: Just next round make sure that you actually manage your time a little bit better. That ok? Yifei: Ok Ji: it’s ok because things happen |
Don’t worry about it. Whatever happens happens. | ||
38 | COACH IV | Coach Zhao: how to handle losses is one of the biggest challenges in chess. I noticed some really talented players left the chess world because they couldn't handle losses. It was too big a stumbling block. And sometimes their livelihoods actually depended on, it wouldn't be the case for Yifei, but it's a big part of being a top player is how to handle loss as well. |
AUSTRALIA V LITHUANIA | THE TEAM HAVE TO DUST OFF AND GET READY FOR THE SECOND ROUND OF THE DAY AGAINST LITHUANIA | |
Wei: It will be a good game. | ||
Adam: Are you ready for this game? Yifei: Yeah. Adam: Who are you playing? Yifei: I don’t know. | ||
PLAYING ON BOARD 4, CHAO XIN HAS BEEN PAIRED WITH ANOTHER GIRL | ||
CHAO XIN CHENG IV | Chao Xin Cheng: Girls tend to be lower rated | |
than boys because chess is a very lot of boys | ||
like to play chess. And I guess it kind of | ||
makes girls feel like, I don't know, boys are | ||
better or they feel like out of place. | ||
Sometimes you can feel like that. And when | ||
you get older, a lot of girls will stop playing | ||
chess because the amount of girls that play | ||
chess are decreasing and then that's why the | ||
boys are better. | ||
GIRLS PLAYING CHESS | THE MAJORITY OF GIRLS AT THIS TOURNAMENT ARE PLAYING ON THE LOWEST RANKING BOARD | |
BUT WOMEN FACE CHALLENGES WELL INTO THE PROFESSIONAL SCENE |
Only seven per cent of active Australian players in the World Chess Federation are female There's just ONE in the top 10 players in the world Coach Zhao: I think there are major barriers for girls unfortunately to play chess as a professional. Coach Zhao: There's a big disparity in the prize money on the professional circuits. So that's something that chefs us to hopefully change like tennis into the future. | ||
39 | DESPITE THE CHALLENGES WOMEN FACE IN CHESS, CHAO XIN HAS SCORED ANOTHER WIN FOR THE TEAM Chao Xin Cheng: I'm just very, very happy. my score here has shown me that I guess I have the potential to do to make the women's team in the future. And that makes me feel really, I guess being also here and playing so many good people and seeing so many games has also made me feel really inspired. MEANWHILE, YIFEI HEEDED THE LESSONS FROM COACH AND MUM AND CAME OUT WITH A DRAW AUSTRALIA NOW HAS ENOUGH POINTS TO HEAD TO THE TOP FLOOR VO: Coming Up... Australia takes on some of the competition’s strongest teams Rei-bo: She’s completely winning! |
Yifei: Oh my god! | ||
Yifei: You’re going to be dead soon. (Pause.) Oh yeah.... VO Team Australia is now on the home stretch With just two more games to play... AT THE WORLD CHESS JUNIOR OLYMPIAD Yifei: Rebo, I’m going to get you badly. After yesterday’s win against Lithuania, Australia is now playing on the top floor Yifei: Come up. Come up upstairs. It’s way funner. Do you know what’s the best thing? You don’t need to walk down. VO They’re among the top 22 of 67 teams in the competition And Yifei is attracting some attention Male commentator: Yifei Hu is playing board number three, only 10 years old and he actually has his own camera crew... Female commentator: He's a huge talent. He has crossed 2000 in classical rating, which is very impressive. Usually Australians do not play much outside of the country. So it's really awesome to see him play in such a big event. We can go outside and calm ourselves! VO Some of the team are celebrating a little early. Yifei: How dare you. How dare you. How dare you eat ice cream. We all have to do |
our homework. You get ice cream. That's cheating. Coach: Only if you win. Yifei Go. Go down. Get his ice cream. OM O'Carroll: I'm not going to steal his ice cream. Dad: Calm down. Okay, calm down. It's 10 minutes. VO For this top floor game, Australia is playing against Canada Yifei: It’s not looking like an army. I’m going to adjust this slightly. VO And Wei is there to make sure he makes the game count Wei: You should consider the time, you know? Yifei: Yes, I know! Wei: Concentrate, you know? Yifei: I know, I know. YiFei: Aw, you stop talking. I want to relax. Yifei: I heard you’re a pretty good player... Canada: Who told you that? Yifei: I just looked at your chess result. Canada: Whoever told you that is lying to you... |
Yifei: Maybe I should not have said that. Arbiter: Ok it’s 4 o’clock! Please start your games. Yifei: Good luck. (Shakes hands) Yifei: I'm feeling a bit worried because he probably has more strength than me. Yifei: I got a chance but it's kind of slim. BUT WITH AN INFINITE NUMBER OF MOVES, CHESS CAN BE UNPREDICTABLE Yifei: He made one surprising move and I just suddenly realised I just blundered a pawn. that was the turning point I was just losing after. AGAINST A TOUGH COMPETITOR THE GAME DIDN’T GO YIFEI’S WAY Yifei: We're going to lose because I lost. Yifei: I blundered a pawn, I forgot that was discovery. Rui Gen: Oh, how did you blunder the pawn? Yifei: I forgot that was a discover attack. No, because if I take them he has a discover attack. Rui Gen: You can't miss something like that. Yifei: I know. That was embarrassing BUT HE’S LEARNING IMPORTANT LESSONS ABOUT TIME MANAGEMENT, AND STRATEGY Skills which team mate Xin is putting into action on board 4 |
Rei-bo: She’s completely winning! Yifei: Oh my god! IN an extremely close match… Xin ends up with a draw earning valuable points for Australia AND THE WHOLE TEAM IS READY TO BOUNCE BACK FOR THE FINAL ROUND OF THE TOURNAMENT. | ||
VO For this last match, Australia is up against England Chao Xin Cheng: I'm a bit nervous because my opponent is quite young and she is also higher rated than me, but since it's the last game, I want to give it my all and go for a win. | ||
40 | For Yifei, it’ll be a final test of his patience and perseverance… | |
41 | ENGLAND GAME | VO Up against a higher rated - AND MUCH OLDER - player, Yifei is carefully considering every move... For the first time, Yifei’s game is one of the longest... And he’s not the only one feeling the pressure. Chao Xin Cheng: since it's a team event, you always want to try and do well for the team. |
42 | Rhiona: So how did the game go? |
Yifei: I drew. Rhiona: Were you surprised? Yifei: Yeah! I was in like the worst position. And then I just somehow flipped it around. VO YIFEI PROVED THAT HE CAN COME BACK FROM A LOSS AND APPLY COACH’S LESSONS Yifei: Film her! Film her! VO: CHAO XIN CAME OUT WITH AN EVEN BETTER RESULT Chao Xin Cheng: In the last round I had a bit of a tough match. Luckily I was able to win and that really saved our team because if I had drawn a loss then we would have lost the game. | ||
45 | The TEAM is PROUD of how they represented Australia amongst chess powerhouses Female Presenter: And now it’s time for our winners of the youth olympiad. Which team was the best in the past few days? But there was one country that SWEPT THE FLOOR... UPSOT Female presenter: In first place team China... NATIONAL ANTHEM PLAYS | |
46 | AFTER THE MEDAL CEREMONY There’s still one thing to check off on Yifei’s list… |
Yifei: Ice cream! Yifei: This competition has helped me to know where I need to improve my skills. Wei: OK, your ice cream. Enjoy! Yifei: So there's still a long journey for me BUT my goal is to be a grandmaster & I think I'll become a grandmaster at the age of 14. Yifei: I’m a movie star. I get two! | ||
END | ||