Chinese GM Bu Xiangzhi maintained his sole lead at Gibraltar with a hard-fought win today against GM Bologan. His score after 8 rounds is 7.5 with a performance around 3000! His current rating is 2691 and he will stand to gain nearly 20 points, which will make him the highest rated Chinese player ever.
He was at one time the youngest Grandmaster in the world. After a few years of not making as much progress as he would like, he is now back on track to be one the world’s elite players.
GM Bu, Xiangzhi (2691) – GM Bologan (2663) [E63]
Gibraltar, 29.01.2008
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0–0 5.0–0 d6 6.d4 Nc6 7.Nc3 a6 8.b3 Rb8 9.Nd5 e6 10.Nxf6+ Qxf6 11.Bg5 Qf5 12.Qd2 Nxd4 13.Nxd4 Bxd4 14.Qxd4 Qxg5 15.Qa7 Bd7 16.Bxb7 a5 17.Rfd1 Rfd8 18.Bf3 Qc5 19.Qxc5 dxc5 20.Rd3 Kf8 21.Rad1 Ke7 22.Re3 a4 23.Rd5 axb3 24.axb3 Ra8 25.Rxc5 Ra7 26.Rd3 Rb8 27.e4 f6 28.e5 f5 29.g4 fxg4 30.Bxg4 Rf8 31.b4 c6 32.Bf3 Rb8 33.Bxc6 Rxb4 34.Rh3 h5 35.Be4 Be8 36.Kg2 g5 37.Rg3 g4 38.h3 Rd7 39.hxg4 Rd4 40.Bf3 h4 41.Rh3 Rbxc4 42.Rxc4 Rxc4 43.Rxh4 Rc5 44.Rh7+ Kf8 45.Rh8+ Ke7 46.Rh7+ Kf8 47.Kg3 Rxe5 48.Kf4 Ra5 49.Rh8+ Ke7 50.Be4 Ra4 51.Rh7+ Kf8 52.f3 Bg6 53.Rb7 Bxe4 54.fxe4 Ra5 55.g5 Rc5 56.g6 Rh5 57.Rh7 Ra5 58.e5 Kg8 59.Rd7 Rb5 60.Ra7 Rb1 61.Kg5 Rf1 62.Rf7 Rg1+ 63.Kf6 Rf1+ 64.Kxe6 Rg1 65.Kf6 Rf1+ 66.Ke7 Rg1 67.e6 Rxg6 68.Rf1 Kg7 69.Kd7 Rg2 70.e7 Rd2+ 71.Ke8 Ra2 72.Rg1+ Kh7 73.Re1 1–0
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Trivia: Who was the first Chinese player to break 2700 and what was his highest rating ever?
wang yue