Bu Xiangzhi facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Bu Xiangzhi |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Country | China |
| Born | December 10, 1985 Qingdao, Shandong, China |
| Title | Grandmaster (1999) |
| FIDE rating | 2705 (June 2025) |
| Peak rating | 2731 (February 2019) |
| Peak ranking | No. 22 (April 2008) |
| Bu Xiangzhi | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese | 卜祥志 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bu Xiangzhi (Chinese: 卜祥zhì; pinyin: Bǔ Xiángzhì) is a famous Chinese chess player. He was born on December 10, 1985. In 1999, he became a Grandmaster at just 13 years old. This made him the youngest Grandmaster in history at that time!
Bu Xiangzhi is also a national champion. He won the Chinese chess championship in 2004. He has helped his country win big team events. For example, he was part of the Chinese team that won gold medals at the 2015 World Team Chess Championship and the 2018 Chess Olympiad.
Contents
Bu Xiangzhi's Chess Journey
Early Years in Chess
Bu Xiangzhi was born in Qingdao, China. He started playing chess when he was six years old. His older cousin first showed him the game. He also got interested when his countrywoman, Xie Jun, won the women's world championship in 1991.
Bu started taking chess very seriously when he was nine. He got special training to improve his skills. In 1993, he won the Qingdao Junior Chess Championship. This was his first big win. In 1997, he became the children's champion of the National S.T. Lee Cup. The next year, at age 12, he won the national pupil champion title. He also became the under-14 world champion.
Becoming the Youngest Grandmaster
In 1999, a company from his hometown helped Bu Xiangzhi. They gave him money to travel to Europe. This allowed him to play in many international chess tournaments. In just two months, he earned the three special scores (called norms) needed for the Grandmaster title.
He won tournaments in Paks and Budapest. He also shared first place in the Qingdao Daily Cup. He was 13 years, 10 months, and 13 days old when he got the title. This made him the youngest Grandmaster ever at that time! Later, in 2002, Sergey Karjakin became an even younger Grandmaster. Bu also won the German Open in 1999.
Chess Achievements (2000-2007)
In 2000, Bu Xiangzhi won the International Neckar Open in Germany. He also played a special match against another young talent, Teimour Radjabov, and won.
In December 2003, Bu won the 10th Aceimar International Open. In November 2004, he became the National Chess Champion of China. This was a big win for him in his home country.
In 2006, Bu won the 9th World University Chess Championship. He tied for first place but won on a tiebreak. In July 2007, he won the Canadian Open Chess Championship. Later that year, in October, he won the Blindfold Chess World Cup. He beat many strong Grandmasters in this event, including Magnus Carlsen and Veselin Topalov.
Highlights from 2008
In January 2008, Bu Xiangzhi tied for first at the Gibtelecom Chess Festival. He played very well but lost in a quick play-off game. He also played in a very strong tournament called the M-Tel Masters in Bulgaria.
In August 2008, he won the Inventi Grandmaster Tournament in Belgium. In September, he played for China in a match against Russia. In October, he won a gold medal at the 2008 World Mind Sports Games in the rapid chess event.
Chess in the 2010s
In January 2010, Bu Xiangzhi played well at the Moscow Open. He also qualified for the 2010 World Blitz Championship. In May 2010, he almost won his second Chinese Chess Championship. He tied for first but lost on a tiebreak.
In June 2010, Bu won the 1st Danzhou Tournament in China. He tied for first but won on a tiebreak. In August, he helped the Chinese team win against Russia in a team match. He had a great score of 4 out of 5 games.
Recent Successes (2012-Present)
In June 2012, Bu won the 3rd Hainan Danzhou GM tournament. This win helped him join the Chinese team for the Istanbul Chess Olympiad. In August 2012, he won the World University Chess Championship for the second time. He scored an amazing 8 out of 9 games.
In July 2014, he tied for first in the 5th Hainan Danzhou tournament. He then won the Politiken Cup in Denmark by a full point. In 2017, Bu Xiangzhi famously beat the world champion Magnus Carlsen in the FIDE World Cup. This knocked Carlsen out of the tournament.
In July 2023, he won the 42nd Benasque Open. He also won the Masters Open Tournament at the 2023 Biel Chess Festival in the same month. In March 2024, he won the strong Shenzhen Masters event. He had important wins against top players like Arjun Erigaisi and Anish Giri.
Playing for China
Bu Xiangzhi has been a regular player for the Chinese national team since 2001. He has played in many important team events.
At the World Team Chess Championship in 2005, he helped China win a silver medal. He also won an individual silver medal. At the Turin 2006 Chess Olympiad, he played on the top board. The Chinese team finished second, winning silver. He drew games against very strong players like Vladimir Kramnik and Viswanathan Anand.
He was part of the team that won silver at the 2006 Asian Games. In 2008, he won an individual bronze medal. His team also won gold at the 15th Asian Team Chess Championship.
Bu was part of the Chinese team that won the gold medal at the World Team Chess Championship in 2015. He also helped the team win the 43rd Chess Olympiad in 2018. In that event, he won an individual bronze medal too.
China Chess League
Bu Xiangzhi plays for the Shandong chess club in the China Chess League (CCL). This is a team competition in China.
Personal Life
Bu Xiangzhi is married to Huang Qian. She is also a chess player!
Famous Chess Games
- Bu Xiangzhi vs Krishnan Sasikiran, 2005
- Baadur Jobava vs Bu Xiangzhi, 2006
- Bu Xiangzhi vs Judit Polgar, 2007
- Bu Xiangzhi vs Veselin Topalov, 2008
- Magnus Carlsen vs Bu Xiangzhi, 2017
See also
In Spanish: Bu Xiangzhi para niños
- Chess in China
- Chess prodigy § List of youngest grandmasters
