Wei Yi: the Chinese prodigy of the modern 'Immortal'
- País
- 🇨🇳 China
- Título
- Grandmaster (GM)
- Nacimiento
- 2 June 1999, Yancheng, Jiangsu (China)
- Estado
- activo
- ELO actual
- 2740 · jun 2026
- ELO máximo
- 2762 · 2024
When a 15-year-old teenager produces a game experts compare to the great “immortals” of Romantic-era chess, the world takes notice. That’s exactly what Wei Yi did in 2015. A precocious prodigy, the youngest player to pass 2700 ELO points, and author of one of the most beautiful games of the century, Wei Yi is one of the great hopes of Chinese chess.
Who is Wei Yi
He was born on 2 June 1999 in Yancheng, in China’s Jiangsu province. A product of the powerful Chinese high-performance chess system, his talent showed extremely early: he earned the Grandmaster title at just 13, placing him among the youngest in history to achieve it.
At 15, in 2015, he became the youngest player to pass the 2700 ELO barrier, a record at the time. World chess had a new prodigy.
The modern “Immortal”
The moment that immortalized him also came in 2015, in a game against Cuban grandmaster Lázaro Bruzón. Through a series of dazzling sacrifices — including a bishop sacrifice that dragged the enemy king to the center of the board — Wei Yi wove a mating net of stunning beauty and depth.
The game went down in history as “Wei Yi’s Immortal,” compared to the great masterpieces of Romantic-era chess. That a teenager produced such a combinative gem against an experienced grandmaster left the whole world stunned.
A pillar of Chinese chess
Wei Yi is part of the extraordinary generation that has taken Chinese men’s chess to the top, culminating with Ding Liren as world champion in 2023. Alongside Ding and Yu Yangyi, Wei Yi is one of the pillars of a power that for years dominated women’s chess and now also thrives in the men’s game.
After a plateau phase in his progression, he has grown again and placed himself among the world’s best, confirming the enormous expectations he generated as a child.
His chess DNA
In our chess DNA system, Wei Yi represents the attacking prodigy profile: aggression, brilliant tactics, and a calculating ability that produces combinations of great beauty. If your GM twin is Wei Yi, your strength lies in attack and sacrifice when calculation justifies it; your play seeks, besides victory, the beauty of the perfect combination.
Keep exploring
- Ding Liren, the world champion of his Chinese generation
- Mikhail Tal, the historical reference for attack and sacrifice
- Gukesh Dommaraju, another young prodigy who reached the top
- All players
Preguntas frecuentes
What was 'Wei Yi's Immortal'?
In 2015, at just 15, Wei Yi played a game against Lázaro Bruzón that went down in history as one of the most beautiful of the 21st century, compared to the great 'immortals' of Romantic-era chess. Through a series of sacrifices — including a bishop sacrifice that dragged the enemy king to the center of the board — Wei Yi wove a mating net of stunning beauty and depth. That a teenager produced such a combinative masterpiece against an experienced grandmaster left the chess world stunned.
Why is Wei Yi considered a historic prodigy?
Wei Yi earned the Grandmaster title at 13, placing him among the youngest in history to achieve it, and at 15 he became the youngest player to pass the 2700 ELO barrier, a record at the time. His natural talent, especially for attack and calculation, marked him from very early on as one of the great hopes of world chess and a possible future leader of the powerful Chinese school.
What place does Wei Yi hold in Chinese chess today?
Wei Yi is part of the extraordinary generation that has taken Chinese men's chess to the top, culminating with Ding Liren as world champion in 2023. Alongside players like Ding and Yu Yangyi, Wei Yi is one of the pillars of a power that for years dominated women's chess and now also thrives in the men's game. After a plateau phase in his progression, he has grown again and placed himself among the world's best, confirming the enormous expectations he generated as a child.