This is one of the rare talents of Vietnam, his talent made the Yuan Dynasty admire him.
He was Mac Dinh Chi (1272-1346), from Lung Dong village, Chi Linh district, Hai Dong (present-day Hai Duong province).
Mac Dinh Chi was born with an ugly appearance, but in return he was very intelligent and quick-witted. Because his family was poor, Dinh Chi could not go to class with his friends and had to stand outside the classroom to listen to the teacher's lecture. At night, there was no light, so the boy had to catch fireflies and put them in eggshells to have light to study.
According to Dai Viet Su Ky Toan Thu, in 1304, during the reign of King Tran Anh Tong, the royal court held an examination and selected 44 people to become Thai Hoc Sinh (doctorate). Mac Dinh Chi was the top candidate, taking the title of Trang Nguyen. At this time, he was just over 20 years old.
According to legend, when he appeared at the court, the king saw that his face and body were ugly and did not want him to pass the imperial examination. He immediately composed the poem “Ngoc Tinh Lien” (Lotus in the Jade Well) to express his noble character and presented it to the king. The king saw his talent and character, admired him, and passed him as the first mandarin.
Mac Dinh Chi was trusted by the king and sent to the Yuan Dynasty as an envoy twice. On each trip, he excelled in overcoming all challenges, making the Yuan Dynasty king and officials admire him and award him the title of the top scholar in both countries.
On a diplomatic mission, Mac Dinh Chi rode his horse past a house with a sign that read “Chinese chess champion”. Being a chess enthusiast, Mac Dinh Chi immediately entered the house and said he was a passerby and asked for a drink. He casually asked the host, causing the conversation to turn to chess.
The landlord was originally a doctor of the Song Dynasty. When the Yuan army destroyed the Song Dynasty, he did not want to become an official but just sat at home writing poetry and playing chess. At this time, Mac Dinh Chi expressed his desire to play a game of chess.
The host knew that the guest wanted to test his skills, so he brought out a set of horn chess pieces to entertain him. But the guest wanted a set of ivory chess pieces. The host said, “The ivory set is only for entertaining the king. Besides, it is only for entertaining people who are better at chess than me. If I bring it out to play, what if you lose to me?”
Mac Dinh Chi was interested and said: "If I lose, I will give you my head, but if I win, I will only ask you for the plaque with the words "Trang" and this ivory army."
The two played chess together, but because their skills were so excellent, the game lasted for 3 days. On the evening of the 3rd day, Mac Dinh Chi saw that his chess was losing ground, and it was time to rest, so he asked to stop the game and continue the next morning.
That night, Mac Dinh Chi was lost in thought, trying to find a way out of the dilemma. He reconstructed the chessboard in his mind and finally discovered a move. The next morning, he made the decisive move, causing the host to exclaim: “What a divine move, I admit defeat to you.”
The host took the ivory chess set and the “Chinese chess champion” plaque and gave them back to Mac Dinh Chi, but he refused to accept them, and only advised the host to put away the chess champion plaque from now on. This story was recorded in the Mac family genealogy and circulated among the people.
TH (synthesis)