January 1, 1970
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First time in the Candidates.
Back in 2015 Wei Yi was spoken of as a future World Champion when he reached 2700 FIDE at the age of 15, a record that still stands. Although he accomplished a lot in the ensuing decade including being a member of Chinese teams which won the 2014 and 2018 Chess Olympiads and the 2015 and 2017 World Team Championship, there was speculation that Wei Yi never fully realized his potential.
This can be explained partly or in full by his studying at Tsinghua University’s School of Economics and Management, where he enrolled in 2018 and completed his studies in July 2022. Once free of his academic responsibilities he returned to the chess world in fine style, winning Tata Steel in 2024 and placing second in the 2025 FIDE World Cup.
The Chinese grandmaster has played some spectacular games. His victory over Grandmaster Lazaro Bruzon at the 2015 Hainan Danzhou Masters is considered one of the most spectacular king hunts of the 21st century.
