Ding Liren has become 17th world chess champion – the first from China – defeating Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi in a tie-breaker. Ding defeated Nepo in the last of the four Rapid tiebreaks. It was a fitting end to a contest which saw many ups and downs, with Ding snatching a victory from the jaws of a draw. A stunning race against the clock. By his own admission, Ding Liren doesn’t want to be famous. He says he doesn’t “want to be written about every day, or interviewed after every tournament”. He likes to be by himself and make quiet exits after tournaments. Come Sunday however, the chess world, and more importantly, millions in China will have their eyes fixated on the 30-year-old as he takes on Ian Nepomniachtchi in the opening game of the World Chess Championship. Ding’s reserved personality has a lot to do with where he grew up – Wenzhou, a port in China. Being situated in a mountainous region, it has been isolated for most of its history not only from the rest of the country but also from the nearby provinces, making the local culture and language very distinct. But Wenzhou is also the reason why Ding took up chess and why he’s the first man from China who will compete in the World Chess Championship. In 1995, chess legend GM Viktor Korchnoi traveled to Wenzhou to play a match against Xie Jun, the first women’s world champion from China. It garnered so much local excitement that China declared Wenzhou “The City of Chess”. And so naturally, Ding’s parents decided to enrol him in a chess academy. In the question, "Who is your chess role model?" Ding Liren mentioned four players: Garry Kasparov, Francisco Vallejo Pons, Veselin Topalov and Magnus Carlsen. Watch the video to find out why: pic.twitter.com/T3Y7fwKz64 — International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) April 8, 2023 It was there that Ding simply excelled. He loved maths and solving problems, so chess became his obsession. Fate also intervened. Legendary chess coach, Chen Lixing, who has mentored many chess prodigies including Zhu Chen, who became China’s second World Women’s champion in 2001, was the coach at the Wenzhou Chess Association at that time. Lixing spotted Ding’s talent and took a special interest in him. Those formative years under Lixing’s tutelage proved crucial to Ding’s success. Chess in China Ding’s qualification for the World Championships final will undoubtedly give a huge boost to chess in China, but it’s one of those rare countries where the women’s game has by far outshone the men’s game. Xie Jun became the first Chinese to win the Women’s World Championship back in 1991. By comparison, only in 2018, did Ding become the first Chinese to play in the Candidates tournament. The women's team has won the women’s Olympiad on four occasions, and since 2016, all the Women’s Championship winners have been Chinese, something that seems unlikely to stop anytime soon. The Women’s World Championship final will be played between two Chinese this year, in two Chinese cities nonetheless. Ju Wenjun will try to defend her title against compatriot Lei Tingjie, who won the Candidates earlier this week, beating fellow Chinese and former World Champion Tan Zhongyi. When asked in an interview why the women have been more successful, Ding had an interesting reply. “I think this is because 20 years ago, there was this tradition that the best male players in China like Ye Jiangchuan and Xu Jun were expected to coach the female players. During tournaments, they were expected to provide opening preparation for them. But now we all work alone,” he said. Early Success Ding’s earliest tryst with success came in the Li Chengzhi Cup, which is akin to China’s national junior chess championship. After winning his age group events on multiple occasions, he was hailed as the next Chinese prodigy. While he also did excellently at the international level, finishing second at the 2003 U10 and 2004 U12 World Youth Championships, his breakthrough performance was at the Chinese Chess Championship in May 2009. The 12-player field included many strong grandmasters, including GM Wang Hao, GM Bu Xiangzhi, and future women's world champion GM Hou Yifan. Ding, just 16 at the time, shocked the chess world by winning the tournament, making him the youngest Chinese chess champion in history. In doing so, he also earned his third and final norm required to become a grandmaster with the performance. ‘Heir to Carlsen' After Ding’s stellar debut appearance in the 2018 Candidates Tournament where he finished fourth and unbeaten, he was invited to compete at the 2019 Sinquefield Cup. Ding finished the tournament tied in first place with Magnus Carlsen; therefore, the two played a rapid and blitz tiebreak. After drawing both rapid games, Ding defeated Carlsen in consecutive blitz games to claim first place. His victory over the five-time World Champion immediately anointed him as heir apparent to the Norwegian. Unlike the flamboyant Carlsen though, Ding isn’t active on social media or streaming platforms. He spends his time reading Chinese literature and playing chess. He has a law degree from the reputed Peking University but doesn’t plan on using it any time soon. His cash prizes goes to his mother’s account as she is the one who handles his finances, even sorting out his travel itinerary and visas. He still lives with his parents, and when they aren’t home, he goes to visit his grandparents who live nearby. Making it to the final The Covid-19 pandemic meant that Ding could not travel outside of China and so was unable to participate in the qualification cycle for the Candidates Tournament 2022. But as fate would have it, FIDE disqualified GM Sergey Karjakin for breaching its code of ethics and rules stated that Karjakin's replacement would be the highest-rated player who had not already qualified. That happened to be Ding, who was rated 2799 at the time. Ding Liren: “I can write my name in history. If I do that, it will be a huge glory” #NepoDing pic.twitter.com/KKP2uIKhus — International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) April 8, 2023 The only problem was that the rules also stated that a player had to have played 30 rated FIDE games over the past year. Now Ding had played only four with around a month to go before the deadline. In a bid to make the country’s top player eligible, the Chinese Chess Federation hastily organized several tournaments for him to play. He completed the punishing month-long quest in style, notching 13 victories, 15 draws, and not a single defeat. Carlsen’s decision not to defend his title shocked the world, but for those playing in the Candidates, it was an opportunity like no other for not just one, but two seats were up for grabs. Nepo dominated the field and won the tournament, but the battle for second place was the real story. It finally came down to a final-round encounter between Ding and American Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura. With a dramatic victory over Nakamura, Ding punched his ticket for the big seat. Ding’s qualification for the big match may be unprecedented, but for FIDE, it’s a huge opportunity to promote the game in the world’s most populous country. “It is the first time in history that a Chinese GM reaches the final and fights for the title. We anticipate an enormous interest from China in this event, and that’s an opportunity we must capitalise on to promote chess in Asia,” said FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich. Despite all the success women's chess has had and Ding being a potential world champion, the game is not the most popular in China. It still trails xiangqi, the Chinese version of chess by a considerable margin. A victory over Nepomniachtchi could change all that. And China could be home to two reigning world champions. Know Ding More Ding has studied law at the Peking University Law School. He stopped but admits that the university broadened his horizons. In countries that he plays in, the first thing Ding will do is check out the museums around. Without knowing much about the place, he visits museums for hours on end. Ding loves to read and his favorite hobby is studying Chinese literature. While he enjoys Chinese folk songs, his favourite English singers are Damien Rice and Passenger.
