Zhou Weiqi facts for kids

Zhou Weiqi (Chinese: 周唯奇) is a talented chess player from China. He was born on October 1, 1986. In 2008, he earned the special title of Grandmaster from FIDE. This is the highest title a chess player can get!

Zhou Weiqi's Chess Journey

Zhou Weiqi was born in Changzhou, a city in Jiangsu Province, China. He started playing chess at a young age.

Early Competitions and Success

Zhou Weiqi played for the Chinese national team twice. This was in 2000 and 2002. He competed in the World Youth U16 Chess Olympiad. This is a big chess competition for players under 16 years old. He played 19 games, winning 11 of them.

In 2008, Zhou Weiqi did very well at the Aeroflot Open. This is a major chess tournament. He finished second in his group. His performance rating was 2703, which is very high for a chess player.

Later that year, in May 2008, he tied for first place at the 2nd Philippine International Open. This tournament was held in Subic Bay Freeport Zone. He scored 8 out of 11 points.

Becoming a Grandmaster

To become a Grandmaster, a chess player needs to achieve certain results called "norms." Zhou Weiqi earned his three required norms at these events:

• In February 2007, at the Aeroflot Open Tournament in Moscow, he scored 5.5 out of 9 points.
• In June 2007, at the China Men's Individual Championship in Chongqing, he scored 6.5 out of 11 points.
• In November 2007, at the PGMA Cup Open in Manila, he scored 7.0 out of 9 points.

His application for the Grandmaster title was approved in November 2008. This happened at the 79th FIDE congress in Dresden, Germany. He became the 26th Grandmaster from China.

Playing in World Cups and Other Wins

Zhou Weiqi qualified for the Chess World Cup 2009. This is a very important chess tournament. He got in by tying for first place at the 8th Asian Continental Chess Championship in 2009.

At the World Cup, he won his first match against Emil Sutovsky. However, he lost in the second round to Gata Kamsky and was out of the competition.

In October 2009, he tied for first place at the 17th Chigorin Memorial. This event took place in Saint Petersburg, Russia. He scored 7 out of 9 points without losing any games.

Zhou Weiqi continued his winning streak. In 2010, he won the 7th IGB Dato' Arthur Tan Malaysia Open in Kuala Lumpur. In 2015, he won the Premier section of the Doeberl Cup in Canberra, Australia.

Playing for His Team

Zhou Weiqi plays for the Jiangsu chess club. This team competes in the China Chess League (CCL). The CCL is a team competition for chess clubs in China.