The tension of the champions was palpable, but in the little game of the war of nerves Ding Liren will have been the strongest. In the 4th and final game of the world chess championship in Astana, Kazakhstan, the Chinese grandmaster finished after a grueling battle to make his opponent Ian Nepomniachtchi give up. With this ultimate he becomes the first world champion born in the Middle Empire in the history of the game. decide after a first phase of 14 classic games which ended with a score of 7-7.
Ding Liren wins the tidy sum of 1.1 million dollars. It’s deserved because this gifted thirty-year-old player showed throughout the competition a great spirit of initiative despite a few lost games, especially at the start, as a result of the stress that overwhelmed him.
Nepomniachtchi – Ding Liren, 4th Quick Game, Spanish Game 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Fa4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.d3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.a4 Bd7 9.h3 0–0 10 .Be3 Na5 11.Ba2 bxa4 12.Nc3 Rb8 13.Bb1 Qe8 14.b3 c5 15.Nxa4 Nc6 16.Nc3 a5 17.Nd2 Be6 18.Nc4 d5 19.exd5 Nxd5 20.Bd2 Nxc3 21.Bxc3 Bxc4 22.bxc 4 Bd8 23.Bd2 Bc7 24.c3 f5 25.Re1 Rd8 26.Ra2 Qg6 27.Qe2 Qd6 28.g3 Rde8 29.Qf3 e4 30.dxe4 Ne5 31.Qg2 Nd3 Si 31…Nxc4 32.Bf4… 32 .Bxd3 Qxd3 33.exf5 Rxe1 34.Bxe1 Qxc4 35.Ra1 35.Rxf5 36.Bd2 h6 37.Qc6 Rf7 38.Re1 Rh7 39.Be3 Be5 40.Qe8 Bxc3 41.Rc1 Rf6 42.Qd7 Qe2 43.Qd5 Bb4 44 .Qe4 Kg8 45.Qd5 Kh7 46.Qe4 Rg6 47.h4… 0-1 and Nepomniachtchi gave up about twenty moves later Currently number 3 in the world, he should certainly climb to 2nd place. Ambitious, he must certainly hope that Magnus Carlsen, now officially dispossessed of the supreme title, one day has the idea of wanting to regain what he considers his property. The match between these two super champions could be a once-in-a-lifetime event for sure.
If six Chinese women have been world chess champions since 1990, including the current Ju Wenjun, this is the first time that the country has won the supreme title – because it is open to both men and women – in chess. China has therefore been one of the most feared nations in chess for 25 years: it notably won the Olympiads in 2014 and 2018, the most important competition between nations in the discipline, Ding Liren taking a dominating part in these two editions. He is recognized in China and in the chess world and has long been seen as the one who could bring down the world champion since 2013, Magnus Carlsen. Ding was born in Wenzhou in 1992, a city which obtained the title of “Chinese chess city” two years later. Second in the Under-10 World Championship in 2003, he really revealed himself by becoming China’s youngest chess champion in 2009. He was then the highest ranked Chinese player in history, and the first to participate in the Candidates tournament, the winner of which becomes the challenger of the reigning world champion, in 2018 then 2020. From 2018, he becomes the 5th player in the world ranking, even climbing to second place in 2021. But the Covid-19 pandemic, which is lasting in China, has put a brutal halt to his trajectory. In 2022, he does not obtain a visa to participate in the qualifying competitions for the Candidates tournament and does not participate in almost any competition on the official circuit between June 2021 and April 2022. The disqualification of Russian Serguei Karjakin from any competition organized by the international federation chess due to his pro-war stance in Ukraine, however, frees up a spot for the top-ranked unqualified player: Ding Liren. Unlike tennis, the points acquired in chess do not disappear after a year, but change after each tournament game. His performance at the Candidates Tournament in April 2022 tasted of uncertainty. After a loss in the first match against Nepomniachtchi, Ding made up for it and snatched second place in the tournament on the last day. The position miraculously becomes qualifying for the world championship when Magnus Carlsen, five-time reigning winner, decides to give up his crown, tired of the format of the competition. Facing Nepo, in Astana, Ding will have run after the score: trailing three times, he comes back to the heights by winning the 12th round, at the end of a game where his opponent obtains, on several occasions, a significant advantage but does not find not the right moves to conclude.
It will be the fast cadences, or we expected it less that will smile at Ding Liren. Almost in tears after the abandonment, the Chinese finally realized his dream. He will keep his crown for two years. An armada of young champions from India and France, like Alireza Firourzja, is already thinking of stealing his crown.
