Nicknames: Chess Deity in Annam

Zhong Zhen was a native of Fanyu, Guangdong. He was considered to be a relative latecomer to Xiangqi, having started his Xiangqi career only after he was over 30 years old. Together with Huang Songxuan and Zeng Zhanhong, he was known as one of the Three Phoenixes from East Guangdong. Zhong was well known for his prowess in mental calculation and also his chariot pawn endgame which was perhaps trained during to his deep analyses of the Gathering of the Seven Stars. As a result, he was also very proficient in solving various endgame compositions. Zhong traveled to Vietnam from 1925-1927 and was invincible during his time there, earning him the nickname of An Nan Chess Deity 安南棋仙(ān nán qí xiān). An Nan was the name used to refer to Vietnam in that era. He traveled to Hong Kong in 1938 where he had many encounters with Zhou Deyu, whereby he held his own. The actual win-loss record was not known. Zhong also tutored many players, amongst the most famous would be the “Mighty Dragon”, Chen Songshun. Zhong passed away in Shantou in the 1940's. Tu Jingming gave the year of passing away in 1947, while modern-day author Xu Qingxiang gave the date of his passing away in 1944.

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