6-year-old gains fame for memory power

A 6-year-old boy is gaining online fame in China for memory power following a video showing him playing Xiangqi, or Chinese chess, a Chinese strategy game, while blindfolded, reports ifeng.com.

Yang Shengxuan, a 6-year-old boy from Henan Province, talks with the audience on a CCTV program called "Impossible Challenge," also known as "Beyond the Edge." [Photo: CCTV]

The child from Xingyang, Henan Province, is seen playing the game blindfolded with other two players, both of whom were winners of other competitions held in Beijing.

As part of a program aired on China Central Television (CCTV), Yang Shengxuan defeated one of the players in 65 moves, all by memory.

He did lose the other match.

"He has cried many times but still kept practising. He has made great progress in playing chess with hard work," said his teacher Dang Fei.

Yang Shengxuan, a 6-year-old boy from Henan Province, plays a simultaneous game of Xiangqi blindfolded against two other players in a CCTV program called "Impossible Challenge," also known as "Beyond the Edge." [Photo: CCTV]

The kindergarten student has already won numerous Chinese chess competitions, and even represented China as a competitor in the G20 Hamburg Xiangqi Tournament held in Germany in July, 2017.

Xiangqi is a strategy board game representing a battle between two armies, with the object of capturing the enemy's king.