Students attend the final of the first Chinese Character Chess Championship in Bulgaria at the China Cultural Center in Sofia, Bulgaria, Nov. 29, 2025. (Photo by Marian Draganov/Xinhua)

SOFIA, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- The final of the first Chinese Character Chess Championship in Bulgaria was held at the China Cultural Center here on Saturday.

This competition, the first of its kind in Bulgaria, was jointly organized by the Confucius Institute in Sofia, the China Cultural Center in Sofia, and the Chinese Character Application Research Institute in Ningbo, China.

Asya Tsonkova and Raya Kirova won the final, in which a total of 16 students and pupils from one university and three schools participated.

Tsonkova, 14, told Xinhua that she has been studying Chinese for three years, and has been playing Chinese chess for two months.

Playing Chinese chess gave her strategic and logical thinking, and the ability to make quick and thoughtful decisions, she said. She also learned many new Chinese words, Tsonkova said.

Chen Ying, the Chinese director of the Confucius Institute in Sofia, and Aksiniya Koleva, the Bulgarian director, emphasized that this game formed a unique chess culture with a dual function -- developing the intellect and improving knowledge of Chinese characters.

Chinese character chess was introduced in Bulgaria in March this year with an introductory lecture by a senior coach at the Chinese Character Application Research Institute. After this introductory lecture, a lot of work has been done to train teachers and then students.