In November 2022, I wrote that a then little-known 12-year-old Chinese girl, Lu Miaoyi, could join Judit Polgar and Hou Yifan among the top three female players in chess history. It has taken a while, but the evidence is mounting.
Lu’s mother, Xu Yuanyuan, was Chinese women’s champion in 2003 and a double world girls champion. Lu learned chess at three, got her first Fide rating at five, and was 2200, master level, at 10. At 12, she defeated Armenia’s No 3-ranked woman, Lilit Mkrtchian, in a brilliant 18-move sacrificial miniature.
Last month she played unbeaten through the first eight rounds at Reykjavík, where she defeated streamer Zachary Saine in 11 moves, drew easily with the former world No 2 Vasyl Ivanchuk, then checkmated the England No 9, Daniel Fernandez.…