In a seemingly even final, the Chinese GM watched in horror as India’s Gukesh claimed victory in a game that turned out to be a masterpiece. Initially, this was to be a much-anticipated encounter between Ding Liren and Gukesh, a prelude to the world championship. But on the day of rest before the match against India, Wei Yi was informed that he would have to take the first board, as the reigning world champion had decided not to take part in the match.
“Ding was feeling very bad after the blank defeat (the day before) against Le Quang Liem. Of course, we wanted him to play (against India),” said Wei, China’s top player in the Elo ranking. “We asked him to sleep a little and hoped he’d wake up on the rest day feeling better. But the next day he still didn’t feel well and refused.“
Ding, who has not won a single Olympiad, has been plagued by mental health problems after his last-minute victory over Ian Nempomniachtchi at the last World Championship. Before this match, he received a poem written by Wei Yi. The poem spoke of their friendship, and the reigning world champion later said it brought tears to his eyes.
“I’m happy because I think Ding is now in better shape than before. I saw that he was trying to win games (during the Olympics). I hope he can recover as soon as possible! At the moment, it looks like Gukesh has a better chance. But there’s still more than a month to go before the match. (the interview was published on October 02).”
In 2013, Wei Yi became the fourth-youngest GM and the youngest player to surpass 2600 Elo points. He was 14 at the time. Considered at the time to be one of the world’s most promising prodigies, Wei Yi surpassed Magnus Carlsen’s record by breaking the 2,700 Elo point barrier at the age of 15. He chose to go to university for a few years and returned to a changed chess scene. Mainly, with the presence of a wave of budding Indian prodigies. India boasts two players in the world’s top five – Arjun Erigaisi (#3) and Gukesh (#5) – and four in the top 20. By contrast, Wei Yi, ranked 8th in the world, is the only Chinese player in the top 20.
“Players like Gukesh, Pragg and Arjun have grown up very quickly and could become the best players in the world this year. Maybe other countries can take a leaf out of India’s book. In China, we haven’t seen many strong young players. I think we need a few more years to try and stop the Indians.“
In the duel that pitted Wei Yi against Gukesh, we could see the following position, assessed by the engines as equal. It was then that the Indian star, relying on his technical skills, entered a final game with ♘♘ against ♜:
34.♖xg8+ ♜xg8 35.♘xc3 leads to a rather unusual situation. White began to produce threats of double attacks. Much later, on move 71, the passed ♙f, supported by the ♘ pair, became the main factor in the position.
Gukesh managed to stop the past ♟h while protecting his own past ♙. Wei Yi quickly decided to throw in the towel.
