Inside Story: Traveling Man

Hitting the road with GM Jianchao Zhou

Editor's note: this story first appeared in the July 2026 issue of Chess Life magazine. Consider becoming a US Chess member for more content like this — access to digital editions of both Chess Life and Chess Life Kids is a member benefit, and you can receive print editions of both magazines for a small add-on fee.

Jianchao Zhou at the 2023 U.S. Masters. (Photo courtesy David Llada)

Want to win the Grand Prix? It takes more than you might think.

GM Jianchao Zhou has won it three years in a row, and he’s got a sizable lead in this year’s standings.

And as long as he’s in the running, it’s going to take a lot to unseat him.

You have to be a great chessplayer, of course: Zhou has been a full-time player since age 14 in his native China, a grandmaster at 17. He moved to Medford, Mass., in 2019, and in addition to his tournament successes he recently broke the record for most FIDE-rated games in a row without a loss — 158 games in 26 tournaments from May 2025 to February of this year.

But the Grand Prix isn’t about one tournament, or even a few: Tournament organizers offer Grand Prix points to high finishers based on the size of the prize fund, and it’s a year-long contest. So Zhou criss-crosses the country in search of points virtually every weekend.

That means a lot of red-eye flights, a lot of bus rides (some of which are cancelled), and a lot of games against amateur players looking for an upset, Zhou says through his partner, Jocelyn, who acts as an interpreter. Even though organizers sometimes give him conditions to play, it still means a lot of hotel rooms, sometimes an hour’s walk away if the room rates are too expensive.

Jianchao Zhou against Wisconsin's Guru Gurumoorthi in Round 2 of the 2025 U.S. Open in Middleton, WI. (Photo by David Llada)

It also means seeing a lot of American chess from a grass-roots perspective. Zhou’s first choice is the larger tournaments where the most points are, such as the World Open, National Open, and U.S. Masters. “I don’t care [whether] I can win,” he says; “I prefer the strongest tournament. … I like to play with the strong, strong players, to play some interesting games.”

But sometimes he’s in Nebraska for the 50th anniversary celebration of the 1975 U.S. Open, Georgia for the Phillip O’Neal Taylor State Championship, Wyoming for the Community Foundation Open, or Rhode Island for the Lou Giarrusso Memorial, which didn’t even offer any Grand Prix points. (“He was a very inspiring and passionate person,” Zhou says of the 1300-player who passed away in 2024 at the age of 101.)

‘He goes’

“As long as the schedule permits, and he’s available, he goes to the tournament,” Jocelyn says. “He is very adaptive to the environment. During traveling time, he does a lot of the most difficult puzzles, and if he feels tired, he just takes naps on the airplane — just a couple hours’ sleep will recharge him. He has a passion for chess, so a difficulty, like the logistics, is not a big issue for him.”

Zhou coaches a few strong young players in Massachusetts, as well as some online coaching, and is sometimes engaged to give a formal lecture or do analysis at tournaments he’s playing in. But there are a lot of informal conversations too.

While there are generally at least a few GMs in the field at any tournament he plays in, he often ends up playing untitled players, even non-masters, and says it’s a mutual learning experience — he learns a lot about openings (especially obscure ones) and is usually quick to go over a game with an opponent. “It benefits the whole community.”

Zhou at the Millionaire Open in 2015. (Photo by David Llada)

First prize for the Grand Prix is $5,000. That’s a nice pot of money, but it wouldn’t seem worth chasing all over the country for. But Zhou says he wins 70 to 80% of the tournaments he plays in, and the first prize is important, given all the costs of his travel. First place can generally cover costs, while anything less could present a problem. “That kind of motivates you — you’re gonna go for the best.”

‘Very difficult’

Zhou moved to Massachusetts when he came to the States to join up with a chessplaying friend, and says the U.S. and China are roughly equal in chess strength as far as the top 10 or so. But with so many more strong open tournaments in the States, “the entire level is stronger here,” Jocelyn says. “Everyone has more chances.”

His own training consists mostly of deep analysis of puzzles and other positions. Jocelyn says he will play a 10-round blitz tournament at the Boylston Chess Club, come home at midnight, and stay up until 3 a.m. analyzing the games.

Zhou often returns to the same tournaments and communities year after year, and he’s heartened when he sees local club and tournament scenes getting stronger — the establishment and growth of the Charlotte Chess Center, the Space Coast Chess Foundation, and the Ocean State Chess Association are three examples he cited.

Zhou at the 2024 Saint Louis Masters. (Photo courtesy SLCC/Crystal Fuller)

“In Ohio,” he says, “the parents, the kids, they’re very committed, and they put a lot of effort on the chess, growing the chess community.”

An opponent looking to knock Zhou off has a tough task, but his own advice is to find a new move in the opening and catch him unaware in an unclear position with a lot of pieces still on the board.

“Want to beat me? Very difficult.”