Wei Yi is the Chinese grandmaster many fans think of first when the conversation turns to pure attacking chess. He became the youngest player in history to reach a FIDE rating of 2700 — at just 15, in 2015 — and that same year, aged 16, he produced a king-hunt masterpiece against Lázaro Bruzón that was instantly hailed as a modern “Immortal Game.” A three-time Chinese Champion who went on to win the prestigious 2024 Tata Steel Masters and reach the 2025 World Cup final, Wei Yi has spent his whole career being described with the same word: dazzling.
Quick facts
- Full name: Wei Yi (韦奕) · Born: 2 June 1999, Yancheng, Jiangsu, China
- Title: Grandmaster (earned in 2013, at age 13)
- Peak rating: 2763 (October 2024) — a world top-10 player
- Career highlights: 3× Chinese Champion (2015–2017), 2018 Asian Champion, 2024 Tata Steel Masters, 2025 World Cup runner-up
- Style: fearless, sacrificial attacker — the king hunt is his art form
Who is Wei Yi?
Born in Yancheng, Jiangsu, in 1999, Wei Yi was a prodigy in the truest sense. He earned the grandmaster title in 2013, at the age of 13 — one of the youngest grandmasters in the history of the game. Two years later he did something no one, not even Magnus Carlsen, had ever done at his age: in March 2015, aged 15, his rating crossed 2700, making him the youngest player ever to reach that mark — a record that stood for over a decade, until Yağız Kaan Erdoğmuş broke it in 2026.
That breakout year kept giving. In 2015 he also won the Chinese Chess Championship — beating a field that included Ding Liren, Wang Hao and Yu Yangyi — to become the youngest Chinese champion ever, and he then defended the title in 2016 and 2017 for three in a row. But the moment that made the wider chess world fall in love with him came at the Danzhou tournament in July 2015, when a 16-year-old Wei Yi unleashed a sacrificial king hunt against Lázaro Bruzón Batista that Garry Kasparov reviewed in a single word: “Impressive!”
What is Wei Yi’s playing style?
Wei Yi is an aggressive, attacking player to his core — a fearless tactician with a special talent for the king hunt, the art of dragging an enemy king out into the open and chasing it to its doom. He calculates deeply, sacrifices material without flinching when the initiative is worth it, and has a knack for finding those eerie quiet moves in the middle of an attack that leave opponents with no defense. As he’s matured he’s added the technique and stability of a true elite player, but the flair has never left.
We dig into the details, with examples, in Wei Yi’s playing style.
What openings does Wei Yi play?
Wei Yi’s repertoire has a distinctly classical, combative flavor — you’ll often hear it compared to a young Garry Kasparov. As Black against 1.e4 he’s a devotee of the sharp Najdorf Sicilian, and against 1.d4 he reaches for the dynamic Grünfeld Defense and King’s Indian Defense. As White he’s a 1.e4 player who’s equally happy in the strategic Ruy Lopez, a razor-sharp Italian Game, or the main-line Open Sicilian.
See the full breakdown in Wei Yi’s openings.
Career highlights
- 2013: earns the grandmaster title at age 13 — one of the youngest GMs in history.
- 2015: becomes the (then) youngest player ever to reach 2700 (aged 15 — a record that stood until 2026); wins his first Chinese Championship as the youngest ever; plays his celebrated “Immortal” king hunt against Lázaro Bruzón at Danzhou.
- 2016 & 2017: retains the Chinese Championship — three national titles in a row, undefeated across the 2016 and 2017 editions.
- 2018: wins the Asian Continental Championship.
- 2022: takes individual gold in the men’s rapid event at the Asian Games.
- 2024: wins the Tata Steel Masters in Wijk aan Zee after a tiebreak playoff (over Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Gukesh Dommaraju); climbs into the world top 10 and peaks at 2763 in October.
- 2025: reaches the World Cup final in Goa — runner-up to Javokhir Sindarov — and qualifies for his first Candidates Tournament.
- 2026: plays the Candidates Tournament, finishing 4th in a formidable field.
The numbers behind the climb live in his rating history.
The best games
Wei Yi’s highlight reel is stacked with brilliancies — none more famous than the 2015 “Immortal,” but far from the only one. We walk through his most celebrated wins in Wei Yi’s best games.
Fun facts
- His 2015 win over Lázaro Bruzón is routinely ranked among the greatest games of the decade, complete with a rook sacrifice on f7 and a run of quiet king-hunt moves.
- He was the youngest player ever to reach 2700 (aged 15 in 2015), breaking Magnus Carlsen’s record — a mark that then stood until Yağız Kaan Erdoğmuş surpassed it in 2026.
- He became China’s youngest-ever national champion at 15, then made it three titles in a row.
- In 2024 he won the Tata Steel Masters, one of the sport’s crown-jewel classical events, in his breakthrough into the world’s top 10.
FAQ
Who is Wei Yi? A Chinese grandmaster, born in 1999, famous for becoming the youngest player ever to reach 2700 (at 15, in 2015 — a record that stood until 2026) and for a sacrificial “Immortal” king-hunt win the same year. He’s a three-time Chinese Champion and the 2024 Tata Steel Masters winner.
What is Wei Yi’s highest rating? A classical FIDE peak of 2763, reached in October 2024, which placed him among the world’s top 10.
How old was Wei Yi when he became a grandmaster? He earned the GM title in 2013, at age 13 — one of the youngest grandmasters in history.
What is Wei Yi’s most famous game? His 2015 victory over Lázaro Bruzón Batista at Danzhou, a sacrificial king hunt widely called a modern “Immortal Game” and ranked among the best games of the 2010s.
What openings does Wei Yi play? As Black, the sharp Najdorf Sicilian against 1.e4 and the Grünfeld or King’s Indian against 1.d4; as White, a classical 1.e4 (Ruy Lopez, Italian Game, Open Sicilian).
Keep exploring
Go deeper: his best games · his playing style · his opening repertoire · his rating history · fun facts & records · or browse all chess players.
Written and fact-checked by the Chess Lab Academy Editorial Team · Facts verified against Wikipedia, his FIDE profile, and Chess.com, as of July 2026 · Last verified 2026-07-10 · How we verify content.