Seizing the moment

‘If the ball came loose from the back of the scrum, which it won’t of course…,’ said Boris, about his prospects of becoming prime minister. Disingenuous or not, it’s surely not a job won by determination alone. One needs a little help from events.
 
Despite a strong start, Wang Hao, from China, downplayed his chances of winning the Fide Chess.com Grand Swiss, so fierce was the competition. The field comprised most of the world’s top 100, plus a number of promising juniors, women and players from the Isle of Man where the event was held. But his score of 8 points from 11 games marked a career breakthrough for a player who has generally ranked just outside the world’s top 20 for a decade.
 
With generous sponsorship from the Scheinberg family, there was more than $400,000 at stake, including $70,000 for first place. In winning the event, Wang Hao also earns a golden ticket to the eight-player Candidates tournament in Yekaterinburg 2020, which will decide a challenger for the world championship. He is the second Chinese player to qualify for Yekaterinburg, after world no. 3 Ding Liren. Somewhat anomalously, Wang has not represented China at the Chess Olympiad since 2012, seemingly due to tensions with his federation.
 
England no. 1 David Howell played an excellent tournament. His resounding victory against the elite Russian player Alexander Grischuk even put him in contention for the Candidates spot, but he lost a tense battle with Wang Hao in the final round. Earlier in the event, Wang beat me too. After our game, I was struck by his gentle manner as he accurately identified my error. When interviewed, he often appears pensive just before breaking into an endearing grin.
 
The penultimate round was auspicious, and a fine example of his engaging style. Playing Black against Vishy Anand, one can never count on more than a draw, but the former world champion stumbled onto some terrain that Wang had studied thoroughly at home.