Wei Yi–Bruzon: the immortal king hunt

Wei Yi’s 2015 victory over Lázaro Bruzón is often called a modern immortal. The 16-year-old grandmaster sacrifices a rook and drives the black king from g8 deep into the center before finishing the attack.

Lesson

White to move. Main line: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. Nc3 a6 4. Be2 Nc6 5. d4 cxd4 6. Nxd4 Qc7 7. O-O Nf6 8. Be3 Be7 9. f4 d6 10. Kh1 O-O 11. Qe1 Nxd4 12. Bxd4 b5 13. Qg3 Bb7 14. a3 Rad8 15. Rae1 Rd7 16. Bd3 Qd8 17. Qh3 g6 18. f5 e5 19. Be3 Re8 20. fxg6 hxg6 21. Nd5 Nxd5 22. Rxf7 Kxf7 23. Qh7+ Ke6 24. exd5+ Kxd5 25. Be4+ Kxe4 26. Qf7 Bf6 27. Bd2+ Kd4 28. Be3+ Ke4 29. Qb3 Kf5 30. Rf1+ Kg4 31. Qd3 Bxg2+ 32. Kxg2 Qa8+ 33. Kg1 Bg5 34. Qe2+ Kh4 35. Bf2+ Kh3 36. Be1

White builds pressure with f5 and opens the h-file after 20.fxg6. The breakthrough 21.Nd5 removes a key defender, and 22.Rxf7! starts the forcing king hunt after ...Kxf7.

The queen checks on h7 and the discovered attacks from bishops and knights force the king through e6, d5, e4 and f5. Wei repeatedly chooses moves that preserve the net rather than immediately recover material.

The final sequence 30.Rf1+, 31.Qd3 and 34.Qe2+ corrals the king on h4, where the bishops control its exits. The game is outstanding visualization practice: follow attacked squares around the king and verify why each apparent escape fails.