Matt Bevan

I, for example, do not have the patience to learn how to play the game properly, so my go-to move is an opening known as the scholar's mate.

It involves starting the game with an explosive attack using my queen and bishop.

If it goes to plan and your opponent is caught off guard, you can win the game in four moves.

If your opponent realises what you're doing, which, if they're any good at chess, they probably will, you can find yourself in quite a bit of trouble.

The scholar's mate might look dangerous, but in reality, it's one of the worst choices your opponent can make against you.

If it doesn't work, your queen gets trapped right out in the open.

When it comes to geopolitical chairs, I think the scholar's mate is pretty much how Donald Trump approaches foreign policy.

Sometimes the move works and he's won the game almost before it starts.

But at other times, his opponent recognises his plan and it doesn't work at all.

Case in point, Iran.

Trump went all out and now his metaphorical queen is stranded and he's found himself in deep, deep trouble.

Based on my experience of playing chess, grinding yourself to victory from this position is very difficult.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is playing this game of chess too, but he's got a far more complex strategy than Donald Trump.

Xi is playing positional chess, spending literally years organising his pieces, getting ready to claim the ultimate prize.

lot of hard-nosed geopolitical commentators.

This is the sign of a man with a plan.

Donald Trump and Xi Jinping's different gameplay styles came to a head last week when Trump visited Beijing.

Much of the talk was about how much better prepared the Chinese seemed than the Americans.

Donald Trump is certainly coming into this summit on the back foot, bogged down by the ongoing quagmire of the Iran war.

The thing is though...