How he plays
He wins with black. Five of his six wins in Shanghai came with the black pieces, the side that moves second, the final among them. Across the 38 individual games we hold he won eight with black and three with red. With red he mostly draws, thirteen of his eighteen red games.
He opens with the Cross-Palace Cannon. In eleven of his eighteen red games his first move slid a cannon across to the far side of his own palace. It is a quieter start than the central cannon, and it leaves the game to be won later.
He was precise when it counted. His median accuracy across the nine games in Shanghai was 98. The engine confirms three sacrifices in his year, a piece offered and never won back, and one of them came in the world final.
He learned from China's best. "The league gave me a very valuable chance to learn," he told 羊城晚报 in February. "I could play and at the same time study how China's top players play." He has trained with engines since 2005.
The world title
He had been one game from the title before. In Houston in 2023 he reached the final against Meng Chen, drew the slow game and lost the rapid tiebreak. Two years later the championship ran in Shanghai from 22 to 27 September, eight rounds and then a final between the top two. He won five and drew three, against Yin Sheng on the first day, Meng Fanrui and Malaysia's Li Dezhi, and finished level with Yin Sheng on 13 points.
| Round | Opponent | Colour | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ryan Emmanuel Haris (East Malaysia) | Black | Win |
| 2 | Yin Sheng (China) | Red | Draw |
| 3 | Mingjian Li (USA) | Black | Win |
| 4 | Tony Fung Ga Zen (Hong Kong) | Red | Win |
| 5 | Calvin Tay Yelin (East Malaysia) | Black | Win |
| 6 | Meng Fanrui (China) | Red | Draw |
| 7 | Chong Heung Ming (Philippines) | Black | Win |
| 8 | Li Dezhi (Malaysia) | Red | Draw |
| Final | Yin Sheng (China) | Black | Win |
In round three he met the United States' Mingjian Li, who held him level for nineteen moves. Li's chariot push on move 20 let it go. Lại finished at 98 percent accuracy and needed another 47 moves to bring it home.
In round seven Chong Heung Ming of the Philippines slid his cannon across on move 17. Lại's horse jumped into the centre the same move, the engine's own first choice, and his cannon followed it in. Chong resigned after move 32.
The final was one game, Yin Sheng with red. Yin Sheng pressed early, and by move 27 it was level again. Lại pushed his central cannon into Yin Sheng's camp, a piece offer the engine rates as the best move on the board. Yin Sheng took it, and the engine still called the game level. On move 38 his advisor stepped back. From there Lại's soldier on the third file walked down the board, and Yin Sheng resigned after move 52.
Yin Sheng was born in 2005. A year later he went 31 games without a loss and has his own page. The championship's history, and Lại's earlier games in it, are on the world championship page.
The year since
At home the title made him a national figure. In June the state awarded him the First-Class Labour Order, and in April he won the rapid title at the national championship. Most of his games this year, though, were against China's best on their ground, and those are in the table below.
| Event | Dates | W | D | L |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Rapid Open, Shanghai | Sep 26, 2025 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Match vs Cao Yanlei, Zhengzhou | Jan 3–5 | 1 | 6 | 3 |
| Dukang arena final, Zhengzhou | Jan 9–10 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Five Rams Cup, Guangzhou | Feb 25–Mar 1 | 4 | 5 | 1 |
| Chunqiu Daye arena | May | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Vietnam vs Guangdong, Đà Nẵng | Jul | 2 | 7 | 1 |
In January a tea company booked him and Cao Yanlei into a room in Zhengzhou for ten rapid games over three evenings, a rematch of their 2016 Han Xin Cup final in Sydney. Cao won the match 12 to 8, and his page tells it from his side. Lại's win was game eight, with black, in 18 moves. Cao's horse stepped back on move 15; Lại's chariot went straight up the file in reply, his horse followed, and Cao resigned three moves later.
The Five Rams Cup in Guangzhou (五羊杯) invites China's national champions. In February it gave its first wildcard to Lại, and he reached the final. In the semi-final he beat Zhao Panwei, the opponent Cao Yanlei found hardest all year, winning the first game with red and drawing the second. Zhao's horse jumped forward on move 17; Lại's horses came forward and Zhao resigned after move 40. Cheng Yudong beat him in the final, a draw and then a loss. The whole event is in the broadcast archive.
"Since I won the world championship, more people in Vietnam follow xiangqi," he said in Guangzhou, "and more of them have started playing."
All 38 games
Every game on this page is in a Mistboard study with the engine's judgments and lines, and 15 of them are in the broadcast archive with the site's analysis. Sources: game records from dpxq.com, which may not hold every game of an event; the round table from the WXF results book; the Five Rams Cup and arena records from VnExpress, and the Vietnam vs Guangdong record from VnExpress and 象棋热情; analysis by Pikafish through Mistboard's review pipeline, October 2026.