Wang Hao (chess player)

Wang Hao (Chinese: 王 皓 ; pinyin: Wáng Hào; born

August 4, 1989) is a Chinese chess grandmaster. In Wang Hao
November 2009, Wang became the fourth Chinese
player to break through the 2700 Elo rating mark.

In 2019, he qualified for the 2020 Candidates

Tournament by winning the FIDE Grand Swiss
Tournament 2019, making him the second Chinese
player to qualify for a Candidates Tournament. Wang
announced his retirement from professional chess at
the end of the Candidates tournament in 2021, citing
health issues.[2][3] However, he returned to playing in
2022.[4]

Grandmaster title
Wang Hao in 2018
In 2005, he became China's 20th Grandmaster at the Country China
age of 16.
Born August 4, 1989
As with Gata Kamsky, Wang Hao became a Harbin, Heilongjiang, China[1]

grandmaster without first gaining an International Title Grandmaster (2005)

Master title. He achieved his three Grandmaster norms FIDE rating 2701 (https://ratings.fide.com/pr
at the:[5] ofile/8602883) (February 2025)
Peak rating 2763 (April 2020)
2005 Aeroflot Open A2 Group in Moscow,
Russia (February 14–24); score 6.5/9 Ranking No. 30 (http://ratings.fide.com/to
2005 Dubai Open in Dubai, United Arab plist.phtml) (February 2025)
Emirates (April 4–12); score 7.0/9 Peak ranking No. 12 (January 2020)
2005 2nd Dato' Arthur Tan Malaysian Open in
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (August 19–26);
score 10/11

Career
Wang was taught the rules of chess when he was six years old. He had attended a local youth center with
the hopes of being taught Xiangqi (Chinese Chess); however, the trainer did not show up. He was
introduced to chess that day instead and, almost by accident, his career was launched. Around one year
later, Wang played in his first local junior tournament.[6]

In 1999, Wang came third in the Under-10 division of the World Youth Chess Championships in Oropesa
del Mar, Spain.[7] In July 2002, he won the Qingdao Zhongfand Cup. In the following month, he played
on board 4 for the gold medal-winning Chinese team in the Under-16 Chess Olympiad in Kuala
Lumpur.[8][9] In 2003, Wang beat Magnus Carlsen at the U14 World Youth Chess Championship.[10] In
July 2004, Wang again won gold with his national team in the U-16 Chess Olympiad in Calicut, India. He
scored 8/9 on the first board, a result that also earned him the individual gold medal, producing a
performance rating of 2577.[11][12] In the same month he won the "Children of Asia", a youth tournament
in Yakutsk, Russia.

Wang's first major tournament win was the Dubai Open in April 2005, when he was still untitled and
finished clear first with a score of 7/9 points (rating performance of 2731), ahead of 53 grandmasters and
30 international masters.[13] In August 2005, Wang won with 10/11 (two points clear ahead of the rest of
the field) in the 2nd IGB Dato' Arthur Tan Malaysia Open in Kuala Lumpur (rating performance of
2843).[14] In October 2005, he came joint-first in the Beijing Zonal 3.3 tournament, and took the second
place after a playoff match.[15]

In February 2007, he won the GACC Tournament at the University of Malaya. In September 2007, he
came in second place, after Zhang Pengxiang, at the Asian Individual Championship in Manila.[16] In
October 2007, Wang came third at the World Junior Chess Championship in Yerevan.[17] In January 2008,
at the 15th Asian Team Chess Championship in Visakhapatnam, Wang won an individual gold medal for
his performance on board three (5/6). The national team had also won gold overall.[18] In March 2008, he
won the 23rd Reykjavik Open on tie-break with 7/9 points (2721 rating performance).[19] In April 2008,
Wang competed at the Russian Team Championships in Dagomys, Sochi for the team 64 (Moscow),
where he achieved a score of 8.0/11 (+5=6-0) and a performance rating of 2795.[20] In July 2008, he came
5th out of 10 players at the 9th Karpov International Tournament (Category 18, average Elo rating: 2691)
in Poikovskiy, Russia. He scored 5/9 (+2=6-1) with a performance of 2734.[21] In September 2008, he
competed in the 5th Russia v China Match in Ningbo, where he was the top scorer in the men's section
with 3½/5 and a performance rating of 2844 playing with Wang Yue, Bu Xiangzhi, Ni Hua, Li Chao for
the Chinese men's team.[22]

In May 2009, he scored 5½/10 (+3=5-2) at the 39th Bosna International Tournament in Sarajevo with a
2725 performance, sharing second place with Borki Predojevic.[23] In November 2009, he competed in
the FIDE World Cup: after defeating Joshua Friedel and Surya Shekhar Ganguly in the first two rounds,
he was knocked out by Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. In May 2010, he won the 40th Bosna International
Tournament.[24] In the following month, Wang Hao won the Chinese Chess Championship scoring 7½/11
and edging out 2004 champion Bu Xiangzhi and Zhou Jianchao on tiebreak.[25] In September 2010 he
competed in the Grand Slam of Shanghai, a four players round-robin tournament, in which he played
Levon Aronian, Alexei Shirov and Vladimir Kramnik. Wang Hao, the lowest ranked player in the
tournament, scored three draws and three losses.

He has assisted in preparing Levon Aronian for the 2011 Candidate Matches.[26] In a report on the 2010
Tal Memorial, the noted chess journalist Ilya Odessky writes that Levon Aronian "in his teasing style"
named Wang Hao as the most talented player of the tournament.[27] In August 2012, he won the Biel
Grandmaster Tournament in Bienne, Switzerland, with six wins, one draw, and three losses. The
tournament was played with three points for a win, and this result put Wang one point ahead of Magnus
Carlsen, who had four wins and six draws.[28] Wang Hao was one of the AGON nominees for the FIDE
Grand Prix Series 2012–13.[29] In the first stage, held in London, he placed sixth with 5½/11. He shared
the first place with Sergey Karjakin and Alexander Morozevich at the second stage, that took place in
Tashkent, scoring 6½/11. In the Beijing stage, he was sixth on 5½/11. In the final stage in Paris, Wang
finished tenth with 5/11.
At the 2013 Norway Chess tournament, Wang Hao finished in seventh place with three wins, three draws,
and three losses. Wang was tied for last after five rounds, when he lost against the eventual tail-ender Jon
Ludvig Hammer. However, he ended the tournament very strongly with two wins over the World
Championship finalists Magnus Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand.[30] In April 2014, he competed in the B
Group of the Gashimov Memorial and scored 5/9, sharing third place with Etienne Bacrot.[31] Later that
year, Wang played for Azebaijani team SOCAR which won the European Club Cup in Bilbao.[32] In June
2015, Wang Hao scored 6½/9 in the 10th Edmonton International Tournament, tying for the second place
with Vassily Ivanchuk and Surya Shekhar Ganguly.[33] On December 31, 2015 Wang won the 4th Al Ain
Classic tournament scoring 8/9, 1½ points ahead of the nearest followers. He already ensured the victory
with a round to spare.[34] In March 2016 he won the 6th HDBank Cup in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
with 8/9.[35]

In April 2017, Wang Hao came first in the Sharjah Masters tournament.[36] The following month, he won
the Asian Continental Championship in Chengdu, edging out Bu Xiangzhi on tiebreak score, after both
players finished on 7/9 points (+5−0=4).[37][38]

In October 2019, Wang Hao qualified for the 2020 Candidates Tournament by winning the FIDE Grand
Swiss Tournament 2019 with a score of 8/11 (+6−1=4).[39] In December 2019, he won the Yinzhou Cup
in Ningbo, China.[40] When the Candidates finished in 2021, Wang Hao placed last, scoring 5/14. After
the final game on April 27, 2021, he announced his retirement from professional chess, citing digestion-
related health issues.[3] He then reversed his decision to retire and participated in Norway Chess 2022.[41]

China Chess League

Wang Hao played for Hebei chess club in the China Chess League (CCL).[42]

Personal life
Wang attended the School of Journalism and Communication of Peking University.[43]

References
1. GM norm certificate (Kuala Lampur) (https://ratings.fide.com/apps/4140.jpg). FIDE.
2. "FIDE Candidates Tournament: 3 Winners In Final Round, Wang Hao Announces
Retirement" (https://www.chess.com/news/view/2021-fide-candidates-chess-tournament-rou
nd-14). chess.com. 23 June 2023.
3. Doggers (PeterDoggers), Peter. "FIDE Candidates Tournament: 3 Winners In Final Round,
Wang Hao Announces Retirement" (https://www.chess.com/news/view/2021-fide-candidates
-chess-tournament-round-14). Chess.com. Retrieved 2021-04-27.
4. "Norway Chess Field Announced: Wang Hao Returns From Retirement" (https://www.chess.
com/news/view/norway-chess-2022-participants). chess.com. 8 April 2022.
5. GM title applications: Wang Hao (https://ratings.fide.com/title_applications.phtml?details=1&i
d=8602883&title=GM&pb=10) FIDE
 6. "Interview with Wang Hao and Game Review" (https://www.ichess.net/2011/09/02/wang-hao
-chess-inteview/). Chess Videos, Chess DVDs, Chess Software and more. 2011-09-02.
Retrieved 2017-11-20.
7. "World U10 Championship 1999" (http://www.torneionline.com/loto_tornei_d.php?codice=19
99ESP06&tipo=1). Italian Chess Federation. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
8. Wojciech Bartelski. "2nd World Youth U16 Chess Olympiad: final standings" (https://web.arc
hive.org/web/20160304120038/http://cluster003.ovh.net/~bartelsk/olimpbase/2002wy/2002f
a.html). OlimpBase. Archived from the original (http://cluster003.ovh.net/~bartelsk/olimpbas
e/2002wy/2002fa.html) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
9. Wojciech Bartelski. "2nd World Youth U16 Chess Olympiad: China A team" (https://web.arch
ive.org/web/20160308003125/http://cluster003.ovh.net/~bartelsk/olimpbase/2002wy/2002ch
n.html). OlimpBase. Archived from the original (http://cluster003.ovh.net/~bartelsk/olimpbas
e/2002wy/2002chn.html) on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
10. "The 2020 Candidates: Wang Hao" (https://chess24.com/en/read/news/the-2020-candidates
-wang-hao). chess24.com. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
11. Wojciech Bartelski. "4th World Youth U16 Chess Olympiad: final standings" (https://web.arch
ive.org/web/20160308105026/http://cluster003.ovh.net/~bartelsk/olimpbase/2004wy/2004fa.
html). OlimpBase. Archived from the original (http://cluster003.ovh.net/~bartelsk/olimpbase/2
004wy/2004fa.html) on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
12. Wojciech Bartelski. "4th World Youth U16 Chess Olympiad: tournament review and board
standings" (https://web.archive.org/web/20160308114225/http://cluster003.ovh.net/~bartels
k/olimpbase/2004wy/2004in.html). OlimpBase. Archived from the original (http://cluster003.o
vh.net/~bartelsk/olimpbase/2004wy/2004in.html) on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 27 August
2015.
13. "Sensation: Dubai Open won by Wang Hao" (http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?ne
wsid=2324). ChessBase. 14 April 2005. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
14. Edwin Lam Choong Wai (6 September 2005). "Incredible!! Fantastic!! Sensational!!" (http://w
ww.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=2616). ChessBase. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
15. Mark Crowther (31 October 2005). "TWIC 573: Zonal 3.3 in Beijing" (http://www.theweekinch
ess.com/html/twic573.html#15). The Week in Chess. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
16. VI Asian Individual Chess Championship (http://chess-results.com/tnr8048.aspx?lan=1&art=
1&flag=30&wi=821) Chess-Results
17. World U-20 Championship/Juniors (http://chess-results.com/tnr8230.aspx?lan=1&art=1&flag
=30&wi=821) Chess-Results
18. OlimpBase :: 15th Asian Team Chess Championship, Visakhapatnam 2008, China (http://ww
w.olimpbase.org/2008a/2008chn.html)
19. Reykjavik Open 2008 (http://www.chess-results.com/tnr11080.aspx?lan=1&art=1&flag=30&
wi=821) Chess-Results
20. "Russian Team Championships: Ural and Finec win" (http://en.chessbase.com/post/ruian-te
am-championships-ural-and-finec-win). ChessBase. 17 April 2008. Retrieved 28 August
2015.
21. Mark Crowther (21 July 2008). "TWIC 715: Poikovsky" (http://www.theweekinchess.com/htm
l/twic715.html#3). The Week in Chess. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
22. "Fifth China vs Russia Match in Ningpo" (http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid
=4921). ChessBase. 24 September 2008. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
23. 39th International Chess Supertournament Bosna 2009 (http://www.chess-results.com/tnr20
936.aspx?lan=1&art=1&turdet=YES&flag=30&wi=984) Chess-Results
24. 40th International Tournament Bosna 2010 (http://www.chess-results.com/tnr31622.aspx?la
n=1&art=1&rd=10&turdet=YES&flag=30&wi=984) Chess-Results
25. "Wang Hao and Ju Wenjun Chinese Champions" (http://en.chessbase.com/post/wang-hao-a
nd-ju-wenjun-chinese-champions). 6 June 2010. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
26. "Levon Aronian starts preparing for Candidates Matches 2011" (https://web.archive.org/web/
20190417164037/http://players.chessdom.com/levon-aronian/candidates-matches-2011).
Chessdom. Archived from the original (http://players.chessdom.com/levon-aronian/candidat
es-matches-2011) on 17 April 2019. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
27. "Ilya Odessky returns in style" (http://www.chessintranslation.com/2010/11/ilya-odessky-retu
rns-in-style/). Chess in Translation.
28. "Wang Hao strikes back in last round to win Biel" (http://en.chessbase.com/post/biel-rd10-w
ang-hao-strikes-back-in-last-round-to-win-biel). ChessBase. 3 August 2012. Retrieved
28 August 2015.
29. "Announcement on FIDE Grand Prix Series 2012/13" (https://web.archive.org/web/2015092
4012812/http://www.fide.com/component/content/article/1-fide-news/6315-announcement-o
n-fide-grand-prix-series-201213.html). FIDE. 17 July 2012. Archived from the original (http://
www.fide.com/component/content/article/1-fide-news/6315-announcement-on-fide-grand-pri
x-series-201213.html) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
30. "Sergey Karjakin wins Norway Chess 2013" (http://chessbase.com/Home/TabId/211/PostId/
4009861/sergey-karjakin-wins-norway-chess-2013-180513.aspx). ChessBase. 18 May
2013. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
31. Mark Crowther. "Vugar Gashimov Memorial 2014" (http://www.theweekinchess.com/chessn
ews/events/vugar-gashimov-memorial-2014). The Week in Chess. Retrieved 28 August
2015.
32. Ramirez, Alejandro (2014-09-20). "ECC 07: Two perfect scores" (http://en.chessbase.com/p
ost/ecc-07-two-perfect-scores). ChessBase. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
33. Peter Doggers (29 June 2015). "Harikrishna strongest at Edmonton International" (http://ww
w.chess.com/news/harikrishna-strongest-at-edmonton-international-6763). chess.com.
Retrieved 28 August 2015.
34. "GM Wang Hao wins 4th Al Ain Chess Classic" (http://www.chessdom.com/gm-wang-hao-wi
ns-4th-al-ain-chess-classic/). Chessdom. 2015-12-31. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
35. Crowther, Mark (2016-03-21). "TWIC 1115: 6th 6th HD Bank Cup 2016" (http://theweekinch
ess.com/html/twic1115.html#5). The Week in Chess. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
36. Silver, Albert (2017-04-03). "Sharjah Masters: Wang Hao is first among equals" (http://en.ch
essbase.com/post/sharjah-masters-wang-hao-is-first-among-equals). ChessBase. Retrieved
7 April 2017.
37. McGourty, Colin (2017-05-21). "Asian Champs 6-9: Wang Hao & Vo take titles" (http://chess
24.com/en/read/news/asian-champs-6-9-wang-hao-vo-take-titles). chess24.com. Retrieved
2017-06-09.
38. Banjan, Priyadarshan (2017-05-24). "Asian Continental Rd.7-9: Wang Hao is the Champion"
(https://en.chessbase.com/post/asian-continental-rd-7-9-wang-hao-is-the-champion). Chess
News. ChessBase. Retrieved 2017-05-31.
39. Doggers, Peter. "BREAKING: Wang Hao Wins FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss, Qualifies For
Candidates' " (https://www.chess.com/news/view/wang-hao-wins-fide-chess-com-grand-swis
s-qualifies-for-candidates). Chess.com. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
40. "The Week in Chess 1311" (https://theweekinchess.com/html/twic1311.html#24).
theweekinchess.com. Retrieved 2020-07-09.
41. "Norway Chess Field Announced: Wang Hao Returns From Retirement" (https://www.chess.
com/news/view/norway-chess-2022-participants). chess.com. 8 April 2022.
42. "雅戈尔杯中国国际象棋甲级联赛官方网站" (https://web.archive.org/web/20111028194605/ht
tp://ccl.sports.cn/). Archived from the original (http://ccl.sports.cn/) on 2011-10-28. Retrieved
2009-12-15.
43. "PKU Student Wang Hao wins 2012-2013 FIDE Grand Prix Series _Peking University" (http
s://web.archive.org/web/20220818135923/http://www.pku.iant.win/News_Events/News/Focu
s/9914.htm). www.pku.iant.win. Archived from the original (http://www.pku.iant.win/News_Ev
ents/News/Focus/9914.htm) on 2022-08-18. Retrieved 2022-08-18.

External links
Wang Hao (https://ratings.fide.com/profile/8602883) rating card at FIDE
Wang Hao (https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=78863) player profile and
games at Chessgames.com
Wang Hao (https://www.365chess.com/players/Hao_Wang) chess games at 365Chess.com
Wang Hao (https://www.chess.com/players/wang-hao) player profile at Chess.com
Wang Hao's Elo rating table (http://www.benoni.de/schach/elo/his.html?id=8602883)
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20141101223336/http://www.benoni.de/schach/elo/hi
s.html?id=8602883) 2014-11-01 at the Wayback Machine
Wang Hao - "Profile of a chess prodigy" part 1 (http://en.chessbase.com/post/wang-hao-prof
ile-of-a-chess-prodigy-1-2)
Wang Hao - "Profile of a chess prodigy" part 2 (http://en.chessbase.com/post/wang-hao-prof
ile-of-a-chess-prodigy-2-2)

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