Xu Yuhua, China's chess champion torch bearer, said Saturday that she was proud of being one of the torch bearers in Shaoxing leg in south China's Zhejiang Province.

"When the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee asked me if I wanted to be a torch bearer several months ago, I answered without thinking, 'Of course, what a wonderful thing'," Xu said happily.

Although it is a happy thing to be a torch bearer, Xu is worried about the situation in China's earthquake-hit Sichuan Province.

"Facing the disaster, I realize the importance of friendship and love. I hope more people in Sichuan can be saved, " she said.

Xu studied chess from six-year-old, won her first world title of Chess Champion Cup at the age of 24, and won the same title two years later.

In 2006, Xu won the title of chess grandmaster after she beat Russian favorite Alisa Galliamova at the World Women's Championships despite her four-month pregnancy.

This made Xu the 11th champion since Vera Menchik first won the title in 1927. Xu became the third player from China to receive the title, after Xie Jun and Zhu Chen.

According to Xu, the reason of winning the title is that she received a lot of assistance and care because of her pregnancy, "I did not bear too much pressure at that time".

Although chess doesn't belong to Beijing Olympic Games, Xu said that she could devote to the Games by being a torch bearer. "I wish Beijing good luck. I hope the whole world can enjoy the Beijing Olympics," she said.

(Xinhua News Agency May 18, 2008)