“Gukesh, Pragg and Arjun could be top players in the world.”

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

Ding, who did not win the Olympics, struggles with mental problems. Before the World Championship match against Nepomniachtchi, Ding received a poem written by Wei Yi. She spoke about their friendship, and the reigning world champion later recalled that it moved him to tears.

“I’m happy because I think Ding is in much better shape now than before. I saw him trying to win games (in the Olympics). I hope he recovers as soon as possible.” Wei Yi, who will play for Triveni Continental Kings in the Global Chess League starting October 3, said: “Right now, it looks like Gukesh has a better chance. However, there is still over a month left until the match. Everything is possible.”

In 2013, when Magnus Carlsen became world champion for the first time, Wei Yi became the fourth youngest grandmaster in the world and the youngest in history to exceed 2600 Elo. He was 14 years old then. Regarded as one of the most promising geniuses in the world at the time, Wei Yi broke Carlsen’s previous record and broke the 2,700 Elo barrier at the age of 15.

He decided to go to university for a few years and returned to a changed chess scene. First of all, 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 are in the top 20. Meanwhile, Wei Yi, ranked eighth in the world, is the only Chinese player in the top 20. Ding moved right behind him.

“Players like Gukesh, Pragg and Arjun are developing very fast and this year they could be the best chess players in the world. Perhaps other countries can learn a lot from India. We didn’t see many strong young players in China. I think we need a few more years to just try to stop the Indians.”

Twenty-five-year-old Wei Yi finds a team of younger players led by the likes of Gukesh a challenge. “In the match against Gukesh, it looked like I could draw easily. But then he started thinking carefully and made some difficult moves. I made mistakes and didn’t handle time problems well. There is much room for improvement. The way I lost at the end was depressing for me… These young players are very strong and it’s not easy to face them. That’s why I’m very upset right now.”

Does he see himself as the next Candidates?

I hope I will have a chance to fight for it. But the road is very long now.

Wei Yi decided to go to university when he was a chess prodigy. Others, like Alireza Firouzja, also took a short break from chess to pursue fashion design.

“In China, players play chess and try to go to university. We saw our best player Hou Yifan do it. I just want to learn from them. I took up business management at university and studied mathematics. Instead of practicing chess all day for five years, I choose to study at university. I think I obviously learned a lot from it. For example, being part of a team and learning to think that way.

However, the Indian prodigies decided to focus solely on chess. Wei Yi believes that this is the surest path to success in the game.

“In my opinion, if you want to be the best in chess, you have to focus on it,” Wei Yi said. “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 and which one you want to stay with, and work hard.