Bengaluru: It took Wei Yi at least “two to three days” to recover from what was the game of the Olympiad and one of the toughest games he’s ever played. From an equal endgame, the Chinese GM watched in horror as India’s Gukesh carved a masterpiece of a win against him. Originally, it was supposed to be the much-awaited Ding Liren vs Gukesh World Championship prelude. Wei Yi was told on the rest day ahead of the India match that he would have to step in on the top board after the reigning world champion chose to sit out the encounter.

“Ding was feeling terrible after that loss with White (the previous day) to Le Quang Liem. Of course, we still wanted him to play (against India),” Wei, China’s highest-ranked player, told HT in an interview, “We asked him to get some sleep and hoped he would wake up on the rest day, feeling better. But the next day he still wasn’t feeling okay and said no.”

Ding, who went without a win at the Olympiad has been struggling with mental health issues. Before his World Championship match against Nepomniachtchi, Ding received a poem written by Wei Yi. It spoke about their friendship and the reigning world champion later mentioned that it moved him to tears.

“I’m happy because I think Ding is in much better shape now than before. I saw that he was trying to win games (at the Olympiad). I hope he can recover as soon as possible,” Wei Yi, who will play for the Triveni Continental Kings in the Global Chess League that starts on October 3, said, “Right now it looks like Gukesh has better chances. But there’s still over a month to go for the match. Anything is possible.”

In 2013, the year Magnus Carlsen became world champion for the first time, Wei Yi became the fourth youngest grandmaster in the world and the youngest-ever to cross 2600 Elo. He was 14 then. Considered among the most promising prodigies in the world then, Wei Yi surpassed Carlsen’s previous record to cross the 2700 Elo barrier at 15.

He chose to go to university for a couple of years and returned to a changed chess scene. Chiefly, a wave of strong Indian players. India has two players in the top five – Arjun Erigaisi (world No 3) and Gukesh (world No 5) four players in the four players in the top-20. In contrast, Wei Yi, ranked eighth in the world, is the only Chinese player in the top-20. Ding has slid just outside it.

“Players like Gukesh, Pragg and Arjun have grown very quickly and this year, they may be the top chess players in the world. Maybe other countries can learn a lot from India. In China, we haven’t seen too many strong young players. I think we still need a few years to just try to stop the Indians.”

At 25, Wei Yi believes the band of younger players led by the likes of Gukesh are challenging to take on. “In the game against Gukesh, it looked like I could make an easy draw. But then he began thinking carefully and made quite a few difficult moves. I made mistakes and didn’t do well in time trouble. There’s a lot for me to improve. The way I lost such an endgame was upsetting for me....These young players are very strong and it’s not easy to face them. So, I feel very nervous now.”

Does he see himself making the next Candidates?’

“I hope I have a chance to fight for it. But the road is very far now.”

Wei Yi chose to go to university while he was a strong chess prodigy. Others like Alireza Firouzja too took a brief break from chess to pursue fashion designing.

“In China, players try to go to university when they play chess. We saw our best women’s player Hou Yifan do it. I just want to learn from them. I took up economic management in university and studied mathematics. Instead of training the whole day in chess for five years, I choose to learn from university. I think, of course, I learned a lot from it. For example, being part of a team and learning to think that way.”

The Indian prodigies, however, have chosen to focus on chess alone. Wei Yi believes it’s the surest path to success in the game.

“In my opinion, if you want to be the best at chess, you have to solely focus on it,” said Wei Yi “It’s almost impossible to do well at two things at the same time. You have to ask yourself which one you want to give up, which one you want to keep at and work hard.”

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