It is of no small measure to be hailed as the number one ranked player in a country with over 1.3 Billion inhabitants! But alas, titles are not new for the young Chinaman: He was once the world’s youngest Grandmaster (Till Karjakin came along), and held the world championship title under age 14. Bu, who is now at his all time high rating wise, was first introduced to chess by a cousin (although his grandfather is a strong Chinese chess player), and his interest grew with his countrywomen Xie Jun’s women’s world championship victory. His first book was a translation to Fischer’s “60 memorable games” – a player whose chess the Chinese GM admires.

A practical player and a self admitted optimist, multiple time member of his national Olympic team Xiangzhi had an excellent result at the Turin Olympiad, scoring 8/12 on first board against tough opposition that included several world top players. He tied for second at the Railyaway GM cup and ended the Aeroflot mega-open with an uneventful 5/9 score. Very modest and soft spoken, Bu is a dangerous opponent who is clearly one of the favorites to win group B this year.