4/28/2021 – In an interview after the last round of the Candidates Tournament, Wang Hao declared his retirement from professional chess, citing health issues as reason. However, he said he would continue to be involved in chess. Here's a short portrait and the interview. | Photo: Screenshot from the interview at the Candidates Tournament
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Wang Hao – A chess career
The Chinese Grandmaster Wang Hao was born on 4 August 1989 in Harbin and started playing tournament chess at a very early age. In 1999 he won the bronze medal at the U10 World Championship and in the 2002 U16 Chess Olympiad he won gold with the Chinese team, as he did in the 2004 U16 Chess Olympiad. With a score of 8 out of 9 he also won gold for the best result on board one in this tournament.
In 2005, Wang Hao surprisingly won the Dubai Open as an untitled player, finishing ahead of 53 Grandmasters and 30 International Masters. In 2005 he also won the 2nd Dato Arthur Tan Open in Kuala Lumpur, and at the end of year he finished first at the Zonal Tournament in Beijing.
In 2005 Wang Hao also became a Grandmaster and by the end of 2007 he was among the world's top 100.
His other successes include a 2nd place at the Asian Individual Championship in 2007 and third place at the World Junior U20 Championship in the same year. In 2008 Wang Hao won the Reykjavik Open and in 2010 the Chinese Individual Championship.
In 2012 he finished first at the GM tournament in Biel because the three-point rule placed him ahead of Magnus Carlsen, who would have won according to classical scoring. In the same year, Wang Hao finished first to third in the FIDE Grand Prix tournament in Tashkent.
In 2019 Wang Hao became Asian Champion and qualified for the 2020 Candidates Tournament by winning the Isle Of Man - Open (Grand Swiss). With a rating of 2758 that made him number 12 in the world, Wang Hao reached his Elo-peak in January 2019.
But after the last round of the Candidates Tournament Wang Hao announced his retirement from professional chess, citing health problems. He said that tournament chess would mean too much stress for him. However, he wants to continue working as a coach and said that he would also play exhibition matches.
Wang Hao announces retirement from professional chess
YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
The Nimzo-Indian has stood the test of time for over a century: Still a top choice for elite players today, from Magnus Carlsen to Praggnanandhaa, it remains one of Black's most reliable ways to fight for real chances against 1.d4 2.c4 3.Nc3.
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Bb4!? is an opening idea well worth considering. Black immediately threatens to double the pawns on c3 in the style of the Trompowski or Sicilian Grand Prix attack.
Italian Game Powerbase 2026 is a database and contains 8571 top class games from Mega 2026 and the Correspondence Database 2026, of which 479 are annotated.
Videos: Nico Zwirs discusses the Sicilian with 2…e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6 5.Qe3 Nf6 6.Nc3. Mihail Marin examines Sindarov’s 6.Ne5 in the Queen’s Pawn Defence. Plus the ‘Lucky bag’ featuring 41 analyses by Berg, Ftacnik, Gupta and many others.
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