Wei Yi (born 2 June 1999) is a Chinese

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

grandmaster. Wei became a grandmaster at the age of 13 years, 8 months and 23 days, the 9th youngest in history. He is the youngest player ever to reach a rating of 2700, accomplishing this feat at age 15. Wei represents the

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...

club in the

China Chess League The China Chess League (CCL) () is a Chinese professional league for chess clubs. The league is organized by the Chinese Chess Association. It is sponsored by Youngor Group and was sponsored by the Shandongbr>Torch Real Estate Group(2005–2009 ...

Career

Early years

In 2007, he competed in the Chinese Chess Championship B group at the age of 8, recording a draw against Grandmaster Zhou Jianchao. In 2009, Wei Yi won the under 11 section of the 5th World School Chess Championship, held in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

, Greece. In 2010, he won the under-12 event at the Asian Youth Chess Championship and followed this up by winning the same division at the World Youth Chess Championship.

2012

In August, he won his first GM

norm Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) and technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) consist of materials, usually industrial wastes or by-products enriched with radioactive elements found in the envir ...

at the World Junior Chess Championship in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, including a victory over

Richárd Rapport Richárd Rapport (born 25 March 1996) is a Hungarian-Romanian chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he earned his grandmaster title at the age of 13 years, 11 months and 6 days, making him Hungary's youngest ever grandmaster. He was the Hungaria ...

and a draw with the eventual winner

Alexander Ipatov Alexander Ipatov ( uk, Олександр Іпатов, Oleksandr Ipatov; born 16 July 1993) is a Ukrainian-born Turkish chess grandmaster. He is the top ranked chess player of Turkey. Ipatov was world junior champion in 2012 and Turkish champio ...

; when Wei was only 12. The competition is open to participants under-20 at 1 January. In October, he gained his second GM norm at the Indonesian Open Chess Championship, with victories over Michał Krasenkow and

Sergey Fedorchuk Sergey Fedorchuk ( ua, Сергій Федорчук, translit=Serhiy Fedorchuk; born 14 March 1981) is a Ukrainian chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2002. Career In 1995 Fedorchuk won the European Youth Chess ...

2013

In February, he secured his final norm at the

Reykjavik Open The Reykjavik Open is an annual chess tournament that takes place in the capital city of Iceland. It was held every two years up to 2008, currently it runs annually. The first edition was held in 1964 and was won by Mikhail Tal with a score of 12.5 ...

with a score of 7½/10, including a victory over

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (; born 21 October 1990), often referred to by his initials, MVL, is a French chess grandmaster who is the reigning World Blitz Chess Champion. With a peak rating of 2819, Vachier-Lagrave is the seventh-highest r ...

, finishing 6th. In August, he made his debut at the

FIDE World Cup The FIDE World Cup refers to three different events over the years. Since 2000, it has been a major chess event organized by FIDE, the International Chess Federation. Since 2005, it has been a 128-player single-elimination chess tournament, formi ...

, held that year in

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tromsø (city), city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies ...

, being one of the

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...

president's nominees. He defeated Ian Nepomniachtchi in the first round and Alexei Shirov in the second, then was knocked out by

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov Shahriyar Hamid oghlu Mammadyarov ( az, Şəhriyar Həmid oğlu Məmmədyarov; born 12 April 1985), known internationally as Shakhriyar Mamedyarov , is an Azerbaijani chess grandmaster. he is ranked No. 1 in Azerbaijan and No. 13 in the world. ...

in the third round. On the November

FIDE rating list The International Chess Federation (FIDE) governs international chess competition. Each month, FIDE publishes the lists "Top 100 Players", "Top 100 Women", "Top 100 Juniors" and "Top 100 Girls" and rankings of countries according to the average r ...

, Wei, aged 14 years, four months and 30 days, reached a

rating A rating is an evaluation or assessment of something, in terms of quality, quantity, or some combination of both. Rating or ratings may also refer to: Business and economics * Credit rating, estimating the credit worthiness of an individual, c ...

of 2604, thus becoming the youngest player in history to achieve a rating above 2600, breaking the record held by Wesley So. This record has since been broken by

John M. Burke John Michael Burke (born July 1, 2001) is an American chess player who holds the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM). A chess prodigy, Burke reached an Elo rating of 2601 in September 2015, making him the youngest player ever to reach a rating of 26 ...

2014

In June, Wei won the 27th ''Magistral de León''

rapid Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a ''cascade''. ...

tournament by defeating Francisco Vallejo Pons in the final. In August, he played on the reserve board for China in the

41st Chess Olympiad The 41st Chess Olympiad ( no, Den 41. Sjakkolympiade), organised by the FIDE, Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took pla ...

in Tromsø. He scored 4/5, helping the Chinese team to win the gold medal. In October he finished second in the World Junior Championship in

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

, India behind

Lu Shanglei Lu Shanglei (; born 10 July 1995) is a Chinese chess grandmaster and 2014 World Junior Chess Champion. Career In 2010, Lu played on the Chinese team (alongside Yu Yangyi, Wang Chen, and Wang Jue) that won the 5th Vladimir Dvorkovich Cup, a j ...

2015

In January, he won the Challenger Group at the Tata Steel Chess Tournament with a score of 10½/13 (+8-0=5) and a rating performance of 2804, ahead of David Navara and without any defeat. By doing so, he qualified for the Masters section in 2016. In February, he competed in the Gibraltar Masters tournament and finished in a share of 3rd–11th. This boosted Wei's rating to 2706 in the March rating list, making Wei Yi the youngest player ever to cross the 2700 mark. The record had previously been held by Magnus Carlsen. In April, Wei took part in the

World Team Chess Championship The World Team Chess Championship is an international team chess event, eligible for the participation of 10 countries whose chess federations dominate their continent. It is played every two years. In chess, this tournament and the Chess Olympiads ...

, which was won by the Chinese team. Wei scored 7/9 (+5=4-0) and won the gold medal on board 4. In May, Wei won the Chinese Championship, beating Ding Liren, Wang Hao and Yu Yangyi to the title and in the process becoming the youngest Chinese chess champion ever. In June, he won his second consecutive ''Magistral de León'' rapid tournament, defeating

in the final. At the Chess World Cup 2015, Wei sequentially knocked out Saleh Salem,

Yuri Vovk Yuri Vovk ( uk, Юрій Вовк; born 11 November 1988 in Lviv) is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster. He was trained by Vladimir Grabinsky, coach of the Ukrainian youth team. Career In 2007 he was joint winner with Li Chao and G.N. Gopal at the ...

Alexander Areshchenko Alexander Areshchenko ( uk, Олександр Арещенко, Oleksandr Areshchenko; born June 15, 1986) is a Ukrainian chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster in 2002. He has competed in the FIDE World Cup in 2005, 2009, 2013 ...

, and compatriot Ding Liren to progress to the quarterfinals, becoming the youngest player in the

Chess World Cup The FIDE World Cup refers to three different events over the years. Since 2000, it has been a major chess event organized by FIDE, the International Chess Federation. Since 2005, it has been a 128-player single-elimination chess tournament, formi ...

history to accomplish this. Then he lost to Peter Svidler in the second set of rapid tiebreakers (10'+10") and therefore was eliminated from the competition. In the inaugural edition of the China Chess King Match, held in

Taizhou, Zhejiang Tāizhōu (pronunciation in PRC Standard Mandarin: , Taizhou dialect: Thecieu), alternately known as Taichow, is a city located at the middle of the East China Sea coast of Zhejiang province. It is located south of Shanghai and southeast of Ha ...

and featuring most of the top Chinese players, Wei Yi sequentially knocked out Zhao Jun, Yu Yangyi and

Bu Xiangzhi Bu Xiangzhi (; born December 10, 1985) is a Chinese chess player. In 1999, he became the 10th grandmaster from China at the age of 13 years, 10 months and 13 days, at the time the youngest in history. In April 2008, Bu and Ni Hua bec ...

to win the event. The format of this event was identical to that of the

2016

In January, Wei Yi played in the Tata Steel Chess Tournament Masters section, for which he qualified by winning the Challengers section in 2015. He finished seventh out of fourteen participants with a score of 6½/13. In April, Wei Yi won the Chinese Chess Championship for the second time in his career, scoring 7.5/11 (+4 =5 -0). Wei played in the

Bilbao Chess Masters Final The Bilbao Chess Masters Final (previously called the Grand Slam Chess Final) is an annual chess tournament which between 2008-12 brought together the strongest players from the previous year's "Grand Slam" events. Series organisers Grand Slam C ...

in July, which included five players from the world's top 10: Wesley So, Hikaru Nakamura, Anish Giri, the world title challenger Sergey Karjakin and the world champion Magnus Carlsen. Wei won against Giri playing with white, lost against eventual winner Carlsen playing with black and drew all other games, finishing with a score of +1 =8 -1 to take third place.

2017

In January, Wei Yi participated again in the annual traditional Tata Steel Tournament finishing fifth. In May, Wei Yi won the Chinese championship for the third time in a row with a score of 8½/11 (+6 =5 -0). In July, he won his first super-tournament at the 8th

Danzhou Danzhou () is a prefecture-level city in the northwest of the Chinese island province of Hainan. Although called a "city", Danzhou administers a large area which was called Dan County or Danxian () until 1993. The administrative seat and urban ...

Super-GM event ahead of the likes of Ding Liren,

Vassily Ivanchuk Vasyl Mykhaylovych Ivanchuk ( uk, Василь Михайлович Іванчук; born March 18, 1969), also transliterated as Vassily Ivanchuk, is a Ukrainian chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1988. A leading ...

and Yu Yangyi with 6½/9, a full point clear of the field.

2018

In December, Wei Yi won the Asian Continental Championship in

Makati Makati ( ), officially the City of Makati ( fil, Lungsod ng Makati), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. Makati is the financial center of the Philippines; it has the highest concentration ...

, the Philippines. He scored 6½/9 points and took the title on tiebreak from M.Amin Tabatabaei and Lê Quang Liêm. Thanks to this achievement Wei also qualified for the FIDE World Cup 2019.

2019

In December 2019, Wei Yi reached the finals of the fourth stage of the prestigious

FIDE Grand Prix 2019 The FIDE Grand Prix 2019 was a series of four chess tournaments that formed part of the qualification cycle for the World Chess Championship 2021. The top two finishers who had not yet qualified, qualified for the Candidates Tournament 2020–21. ...

Tournament (after outplaying David Navara in the semi-finals on tie-breaks), losing to Ian Nepomniachtchi.

Notable games

Wei Yi vs Lazaro Bruzon Batista, 6th Hainan Danzhou (2015)
This has been described as "Game of the Decade", with a king walk reminiscent of the famous 1912 game between

Edward Lasker Edward Lasker (born Eduard Lasker) (December 3, 1885 – March 25, 1981) was a German-American chess and Go player. He was awarded the title of International Master of chess by FIDE. Lasker was an engineer by profession, and an author of ...

and Sir George Thomas.
Wei Yi vs. Anne Haast, Tata Steel Group B (2015)Wei Yi vs. Alexei Shirov, World Cup 2013Wei Yi vs. Sergey Karjakin, Tata Steel-Masters 2017

Personal life

In 2018, Wei enrolled as a student at the Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wei, Yi 1999 births Living people Chinese chess players Chess grandmasters World Youth Chess Champions Chess players from Jiangsu People from Yancheng