It’s Saturday afternoon and John Chan, 32, is possibly in a joyous daze. You know when you win a small lottery. Or catch an absurdly sized fish. Or find you incredibly topped your exam. Actually this might be sweeter. He’s a research fellow at the Singapore University of Technology and Design and he’s just beaten Xie Jun, a former world chess champion.

Yes, it’s an exhibition, where she played against 10 people simultaneously. And, yes, the charming Xie, 54, the first Asian woman to become a grandmaster, is hardly stretching herself. But that’s scarcely the point, neither is the result.