China continued to bask in the glow of winning both the open and women sections at the recently concluded 43rd Chess Olympiad in Georgia. In fact, at the mega event, featuring 189 countries, China became the first country since 1986 to win both Olympiad titles. 

After returning home with the trophies, China Chess Association vice president and national team coach Ye Jiangchuan spoke with CGTN Sports Scene to reflect on the meaning of this accomplishment.

"This victory holds major significance because we won two gold medals this time. Our men's team made a breakthrough in 2014 when they claimed the team title at the Chess Olympiad, and received a lot of attention. And then in 2016, China reclaimed the title in the women's team event after 12 years," Ye told CGTN Sports Scene.

"But this time we claimed both titles at the Chess Olympiad, a feat which had only been achieved once, when the Soviet Union did that in Dubai 32 years ago. This achievement by [the] Chinese team indicates that our level of play has improved significantly."

"Ding Liren managed to grow the rating score when it reached 2800s, this is really hard, at the same time he won gold in board one, and he achieved this result with injuries as he injured his leg when doing sport ahead of the competition," he added.

“If Ding didn't make it to the Olympiad, we certainly can't win the gold. According to our statistics, he remains unbeaten in around 90 games. In the 1970s, Mikhail Tal made a world record of being unbeaten in 95 games, I think if Ding performs stable in Europe Club competition, he'll break the record. And from his level of play, he has a very close chance of winning the men's world chess champion."

"Because of the growing influence, the whole society will have a higher recognition of the sport, and at the same time, it is a good time to promote and popularize the sport. And I think our association should seize the opportunity and work hard to let more people to get involved and fall in love with the sport," he explained.