Zhu Chen calls herself a mermaid in her first autobiography.

In many people's eyes, the 26-year-old is more a legend with beauty, wisdom, courage and success.

But few know of her failures and tears behind her bright eyes, sweet smile and story of success.

"When you put down a chess piece on the chessboard and withdraw your hand from it, you will never have the chance to regret. The same is true of your life," Zhu writes in her biography.

That's why Zhu named her autobiography Lay Piece Without Regrets -- Waits and Dreams of A Mermaid, in which Zhu writes stories about herself, her parents, her husband and her chess.

"The book includes all the necessary information on a contemporary young woman who desires success and love. It is also a valuable book for chess fans," writes Lan Dizhi, Zhu's professor at Tsinghua University, in the prelude to the book.

A brilliant chess player, Zhu has had few chances to demonstrate her gifts in other fields beyond the chessboard and the autobiography is a good way of getting this ball rolling.

"I was amazed at her ability to write," said Jing Min, the editor of the book.

"She does have many talents besides playing chess."

Born in 1976 in Wenzhou, a small town in East China's Zhejiang Province, Zhu fell in love with chess at the age of seven.

Dreaming of winning a championship, she was attracted to the pretty images of the chess pieces and began to learn playing at a local school for amateur chess, Zhu recalled.

Success came quickly when she won the under-12 age group during the World Junior Championships in Romania in 1988.

She thus became the first Chinese girl to win a championship in an international chess competition.

The championship made her famous and also took her away from her hometown. She was enrolled on to the national team and had to leave her parents and live independently at a training base in Beijing when she was 13.

Zhu could not help missing her parents and wrote letters to ask them to visit her. But she only got letters of encouragement in return.

She later understood that her parents missed her as much as she missed them. But they believed their daughter needed to become more strong and firm in character, in order to become a successful chess player.

To escape homesickness, Zhu tried to immerse herself in the world of chess. In Beijing, she first realized that chess was not just fairy tales of "king and queen," it was also about failures and victories, passions and responsibilities.

"I began to realize that chess could lead my life from that time," Zhu recalled.

What made her truly grow up was the highs and lows as a chess champion.

In the first half of the 1990s, Zhu suffered a string of defeats.

Three years after the Romania victory, Zhu had her first major defeat during the 1991 National Championships.

She was ousted in the qualifiers, which surprised many who expected her to win.

She captured a national title in 1992, but failed to qualify for the annual event again in 1993 in Tianjin, which almost totally destroyed her confidence.

A year later she returned to the winning chess scene with a 1994 national title win. In the same year, she won the Asian and World Youth Championships in Malaysia, which earned her the women's grand master title. It was also there that she met her future husband, Modihki Mohamed.

The young chess master from Qatar showed his affection for Zhu in their first meeting. There he learned his first Chinese sentence "I love you."

Love gradually developed between them through international telephone calls daily and regular correspondence.

And love became the main impetus for Zhu to diligently study English, allowing her to communicate with Mohamed freely and reply to sports reporters in fluent English at international chess events.

Zhu has devoted a major part of her autobiography to depict their romantic love story.

But their love affair has not always been smooth-sailing. Neither of their families supported them at first.

Zhu's mother was not only worried that her daughter's bright future would be ruined if she was distracted by love but also wondered over cultural differences of having an Arab as her son-in-law.

But Zhu believed love can only be found and cannot be arranged. The power of love can finally bridge the language, cultural, religious and even racial differences.

Zhu called that period of time as a time of "cold war."

She didn't want to break her mother's heart but neither could she give up her love.

In an effort to force Zhu to forget Mohamed and reconsider their relationship, Zhu's mother decided to send Zhu to college. In 1995, Zhu entered Tsinghua University and became a college student in the department of Chinese, where she demonstrated her fine aptitude at academic learning.

Lan Dizhi, her first professor at Tsinghua, praised her as "an exceptional young woman without any arrogance."

But the change of environment didn't separate the young lovers.

They both shared a fondness for sentimentality as well as a love for the game, which drew them tightly together.

Their love also consoled Zhu after she heard that the qualifiers for the Women's World Championships (WWC) -- the most renowned world competition for female players -- was being suspended in 1995 due to organization problems.

That meant she had no chance to win the world title, since she could not participate in the qualifiers. In the years that followed, Zhu won a second world youth championship and a third national title in 1996, as well as a team win with her fellow countrymen at the Chess Olympics in 1998.

But the WWC issue still blighted her childhood dream.

"I felt I was at a dead end, with nothing before me. The only thing I could do was wait," she remembered.

In 2000, Zhu married Mohamed, five years after their first encounter. And she finally saw the revival of the qualifiers for the 2000 Championships.

However, both would prove disappointing. The bride and groom's families didn't approve of the marriage, and she lost in the first round of the qualifiers in Madrid.

The only comfort that year was helping China to a second team title at the Chess Olympics.

And as the time passed, the two were able to finally ease their parents' initial disapproval of their cultural and religious differences.

At the same time, she surprised all in the 2001 WWC in Moscow in December.

China wasn't expecting a win since its best player Xie Jun, who won the country's first world championship title in 1991, did not attend.

Zhu beat former world champion M. Chiburdanidze before taking on Russia's Alexandra Kosteniuk. She lost the first match, but she went on to win the rest of the games in the nail-biting four-game finals.

Eighteen years after she started, the 25-year-old woman who was enchanted by the black and white pieces as a child, had finally got the crown she yearned for.

Zhu didn't end her autobiography with stories of winning the championship, but with the story of another sad, short separation from her husband.

Mohamed couldn't accompany his wife back to China but had to go back Qatar to handle his own business.

"We had no marriage but just love," her husband said to Zhu before he left.

Zhu said they could meet either in Beijing or Qatar several times each year and play in tournaments together, but both of them must also put up with separation for the rest of the time.

She was at a loss to know why she loved him so deeply, but she believed their love was simple and pure.

"Their love story is the most charming part of the book," said Jing.

The book will be published in late May. But the publishing house doesn't expect it will be a very popular book because they know that chess is so far not a popular game among Chinese people.

"But I am sure readers can benefit from many things beyond chess," said Jing. "This is not a chess book but a book of a young woman who plays chess."

He said he has learned a lot from Zhu's parents and would also give a copy to his daughter to read.

In July, Zhu will graduate from Tsinghua University with a bachelor's degree in Chinese Language and Literature.

She plans to continue her studies to get a master's degree in International Relations.

Zhu said the publication of the autobiography helps summarize the first phase of her life and serves as a new, turning point of her future.

"Once I make a move on the chess board, I will never regret. So it is the same with my own life," Zhu said.

(China Daily April 23, 2002)