The great master of Chinese chess Wei Yi praised the fierce competitive spirit of the rising stars of India, Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa, praising their relentless hunger to win. Wei Yi also suggested a potential adjustment for conventional chess tournaments: in case of equality break, the player with the most victories should be declared victorious, rather than relying on a blitz.
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Chess player No. 1 in China, the Grand Master, Wei Yi, congratulated Gukesh and R Praggnanandhaa of India for their hunger to win matches even with black pieces. Wei Yi’s praise for the Indian duo came after Praggnanandhaa beaten Gukesh in an equality break to win the title Tata Steel Masters 2025 earlier this month.
It was the biggest title of the title for Praggnanandhaa so far in his emerging career when he was beating the world champion Gukesh in a dramatic end to the “Wimbledon of chess”. Gukesh became the youngest world chess champion in December 2024 by beating Dingn from China to Singapore.
Wei yi lease gukesh, praggnanandhaa
On the touch of the event, Wei Yi, who won the Tata Steel Masters competition in 2024 and finished the latest undefeated edition, was asked about the players who impressed him the most at the Wijk Aan Zee tournament, The Netherlands. And the Chinese GM went with young Indian chess players, who govern the biggest sport tournaments.
“I think it was Gukesh, Pragg and Abdusattorov because, in every match, they wanted to win,” said Wei Yi India time. “For me, if I played with black, I would try to play solidly, but for them, even with Black, they always wanted to win. It’s very good, not only for the game but also for the public. »»
On Praggnanandhaa winning the title of chess of Tata Steel, Wei Yi said: “I think he works very hard. He played many different openings in the tournament, and of course, he deserved the championship because in every match, he fought hard. »»
At Tata Steel Masters 2025, Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa had to participate in playoffs after finishing the tournament as joint leaders. Wei Yi, who won the 2024 edition by beating Gukesh in the playoffs, believes that the “best” way of deciding a winner in the event of equality break in a classic tournament is to use the criteria of which won the most matches.
“I think it can be better that the winner is decided by the number of winning matches. But maybe it would be better if it was decided by certain fast games. For example, after a day of rest, you could play two or four fast games. »»
Wei Yi will then be seen in action in the failures of Norway 2025 which will also include Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa, the world n ° 1 Magnus Carlsen and Arjun Erigaisi.
