Ding Liren Explained

Ding Liren
Country:China
Birth Date:24 October 1992
Birth Place:Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China
Grandmaster (2009)[1]
Worldchampion:2023–present
Peakrating:2816 (November 2018)
Ranking:No. 1 (April 2023)
Peakranking:No. 2 (November 2021)
Fideid:8603677
P:Dīng Lìrén
Wuu:Tin1 Liq5 nyin3

Ding Liren (; born 24 October 1992) is a Chinese chess grandmaster and the reigning World Chess Champion. He is a three-time Chinese Chess Champion. He was the winner of the 2019 Grand Chess Tour, beating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the finals and winning the 2019 Sinquefield Cup.[2] [3] Ding is the first Chinese player ever to play in a Candidates Tournament and pass the 2800 Elo mark on the FIDE world rankings.[4] In July 2016, with a Blitz rating of 2875, he was the highest-rated Blitz player in the world.[5] In July 2023, Ding became the No. 1 ranked Rapid player, with a rating of 2830.[6]

Ding was undefeated in classical chess from August 2017 to November 2018, recording 29 victories and 71 draws. This 100-game unbeaten streak was the longest in top-level chess history,[7] until Magnus Carlsen surpassed it in 2019.[8] Ding ended up being the runner up of Chess World Cups in 2017 and 2019 consecutively and came second in the Candidates Tournament in 2022: this qualified him for the World Chess Championship 2023 against Ian Nepomniachtchi, as Carlsen declined to defend his title. Ding won, making him World Chess Champion, by defeating Nepomniachtchi 2½ to 1½ in the rapid tie breaks after their 7–7 tie in classical chess.

Early life and education

Ding was born in Wenzhou, China, and started learning chess when he was four years old.[9] He attended Wenzhou Zhouyuan Elementary School,[10] [11] and is a graduate of Zhejiang Wenzhou High School[12] and Peking University Law School.[13] [14]

Chess career

Ding is a three-time Chinese Chess Champion (2009,[15] 2011,[16] 2012[17]) and has represented China at all four Chess Olympiads from 2012 to 2018, winning team gold medals in 2014 and 2018, and individual bronze and gold medals in 2014 and 2018, respectively. He also won team gold and individual silver at the World Team Championships in 2015.[18]

2015

In August, he became the first Chinese player after Wang Yue to break into the top 10 of the FIDE world rankings.[19]

2016

In July, with a Blitz rating of 2875, Ding was the highest-rated Blitz player in the world.

2017

After becoming the runner up of the Chess World cup in September 2017, he became the first Chinese player to qualify for a Candidates Tournament,[20] the penultimate stage in the World Championship.

2018

At the Candidates Tournament 2018, Ding placed 4th with 1 win and 13 draws, the only candidate without a loss at the event.

In September, Ding became the first Chinese player to pass the 2800 Elo mark on the FIDE world rankings, and in November he reached a rating of 2816, the joint-tenth highest rating in history. This brought him to ranked 4th in the world for that month.[21]

2019

In August, Ding tied first in the Sinquefield Cup with a score of 6½/11 (+2−0=9) with a performance rating of 2845. He won the tournament after beating Magnus Carlsen in the playoffs, drawing both games in the rapid portion and winning 2−0 in the blitz portion.[22]

In October of the same year, Ding qualified for the 2020–21 Candidates Tournament by finishing 2nd place in the World Cup for the second time in a row. He lost to Teimour Radjabov in the finals after drawing the classical games (+1−1=2), the rapid tiebreaks (+0−0=4), before losing 2−0 in the blitz tiebreaks.[23]

Along with Magnus Carlsen, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, and Levon Aronian, he was a 2019 Grand Chess Tour finalist. Ding went on to win the Grand Chess Tour final,[24] beating Aronian in the semi-finals and Vachier-Lagrave in the finals.

2020−2021

In March 2020, Ding played in the 2020–21 Candidates Tournament. He had a poor start, winning one game, losing three, and drawing three in the first half of the tournament before it was suspended. He finished in 5th place after the tournament was resumed in April 2021, with a score of 7/14 (+4–4=6) and a performance rating of 2768.[25]

2022–2023

After Sergey Karjakin was disqualified from the Candidates Tournament 2022, Ding was the highest player on the ratings list who was not already qualified.[26] Ding had been unable to travel to tournaments outside China during the COVID-19 pandemic, and was thus short of the minimum games requirement for qualification,[27] [28] but the Chinese Chess Association organized three different rated events at short notice to allow him to qualify.[29]

At the Candidates Tournament, Ding recovered from a slow start and finished with 8/14 (+4−2=8), achieving second place at the tournament's end on July 5. Later the same month the reigning World Champion Magnus Carlsen declined to defend his title against the Candidates winner, Ian Nepomniachtchi. Therefore, Ding's second-place spot qualified him to play Nepomniachtchi in the World Chess Championship 2023.[30]

In January 2023, Ding appeared at the Tata Steel tournament, defeating Gukesh D in the first round, but then he eventually lost to R Praggnanandhaa, Richárd Rapport and Anish Giri and finished in 11th place with 5½/13 (+1−3=10).[31] This result dropped his rating below 2800, leaving only Magnus Carlsen to retain a rating above 2800.

World Champion (2023–present)

World Chess Championship 2023
Rating Classical games Points Rapid games Total
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
2795½1½0 101½½½½0 ½½7½½½0
2788½0½1010½½ ½½1½½7½½½1

In April 2023, Ding and Nepomniachtchi began the World Championship match with a back-and-forth classical portion that ended tied 7–7. Ding then defeated Nepomniachtchi in rapid tiebreaks, winning the fourth game as black.[32] Ding became the first Chinese player to hold the title of World Chess Champion.

In May, Ding participated in the GCT Superbet Chess Classic Romania, finishing in 8th with a score of 4/9 (+1−2=6).[33] Following this, Ding took a nine-month break from tournaments, citing a struggle with depression.[34] [35]

2024

Ding ended the break in January 2024, placing ninth at the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2024 with a score of 6/13 (+2−3=8).[36]

In March, Ding played in the rapid time control (45+10) Grenke Chess Classic. He finished in 5th place out of 6 players, after scoring 4/10 (+0−2=8) in the double round-robin, coming second in a 4th-place tiebreaker with Vincent Keymer and Daniel Fridman (+1−2=1), and then beating Fridman 1½−½ for 5th place.[37]

In May−June, Ding played in Norway Chess, placing last out of 6 players with a score of 7/30. The tournament was a double round-robin in classical chess, with an Armageddon playoff after each classical draw. A classical win counted for three points, a classical draw and Armageddon win counted for one-and-a-half points, a classical draw and Armageddon loss counted for one point, and a classical loss counted for zero points. Ding scored no wins, four losses, and six draws in the classical games.[38] He won 2 out of 6 Armageddon games, against R Praggnanandhaa and Hikaru Nakamura.

In September, representing China as board one at the Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Ding failed to win a single game and as a result fell out of the FIDE top 20 rankings.[39] [40] He finished with a score of 3½/8 (+0−1=7), with a rating performance of 2664.[41]

World Chess Championship 2024

See main article: World Chess Championship 2024. Ding Liren is currently playing in singapore as the defending champion in the World Chess Championship 2024. His opponent is Gukesh.

Results

Notable games

In a constant push for the initiative, Ding places multiple pieces en prise, leading to a king hunt ending with a forced mate.[65] The game would have finished with 33.Nxe5 Bf5+ 34.Kh5 Kg7+ 35.Bh6+ Rxh6# or 33.Kh4 Kg8+ 34.Nxh8 Bxg5#, the latter line resulting in a pure mate.

Personal life

He is accompanied by his mother on his travels. In an interview with Die Zeit in February 2024 he admitted being dysphoric and having problems sleeping.[66] In November 2024 he was quoted as saying he simply no longer enjoyed his work[67] and suffered psychological problems.[68]

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Web site: FIDE Title Applications (GM, IM, WGM, WIM, IA, FA, IO). Administrator.
  2. Web site: Ding Liren Wins 2019 Grand Chess Tour. 9 December 2019 .
  3. Web site: Ding Beats Carlsen In Playoff To Win Sinquefield Cup. Peter. Doggers (PeterDoggers). Chess.com. 30 August 2019 .
  4. Web site: Ding Liren: Quiet Assassin. chess24.com. 23 May 2020.
  5. Web site: Search results: July 2016 . . 1 December 2018.
  6. Web site: Search results: July 2023. FIDE. 2 August 2023.
  7. Web site: Ding defeated! Tiviakov celebrates!. Macauley. Peterson. ChessBase. 11 November 2018.
  8. Web site: Magnus Carlsen satte verdensrekord: 101 partier uten tap. Jostein. Overvik. Ole Kristian. Strøm. Verdens Gang. 21 October 2019. no.
  9. Web site: Ding Liren makes history, becoming World Champion . 1 May 2023 . www.fide.com . en.
  10. Web site: 温州市中通国际学校. ztxx.lwedu.cn. 24 October 2020. 26 October 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201026232750/http://ztxx.lwedu.cn/xyxw/p/5260.html. dead.
  11. Web site: 新闻中心 – 温州网. news.66wz.com. 24 October 2020. 27 October 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201027163051/http://news.66wz.com/system/2004/08/31/058682114.shtml. dead.
  12. Web site: 浙江省温州中学 今日温中 我校高三学生丁立人与国际象棋特级大师卜祥志温州论剑. wzms.wzer.net. 24 October 2020. 27 October 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201027210511/http://wzms.wzer.net/art/2010/10/11/art_3017_103124.html. dead.
  13. Web site: PKU alumnus Ding Liren becomes the Runner-Up in the Individual Events of 2017 Chess World Cup . Peking University . 2 November 2017 . 27 April 2020.
  14. Web site: Introducing Candidates: Ding Liren. fide.com. 14 March 2020. 24 July 2020.
  15. Web site: 9 June 2009 . Chinese Championship – decision by default . 24 June 2023 . Chess News . en.
  16. Web site: 11 April 2011 . 2011 Chinese Championship: Ding Liren and Zhang Xiaowen win! . 24 June 2023 . Chess News . en.
  17. Web site: Chinese Chess Championships 2012 The Week in Chess . 24 June 2023 . theweekinchess.com.
  18. Web site: Ding Liren . 1 May 2023 . gashimovchess.com.
  19. Web site: Top 100 Players August 2015 FIDE Top players archive . 24 June 2023 . ratings.fide.com.
  20. Web site: Doggers (PeterDoggers) . Peter . 20 February 2018 . Candidates In Berlin; Who Will Play? . 27 July 2023 . Chess.com . en-US.
  21. Web site: Top 100 Players November 2018 FIDE Top players archive . 2024-05-16 . ratings.fide.com.
  22. Web site: 30 August 2019 . Ding Liren Wins 2019 Sinquefield Cup . 27 July 2023 . US Chess.org . en.
  23. Web site: Doggers (PeterDoggers) . Peter . 2019-10-04 . Radjabov Wins FIDE Chess World Cup; Vachier-Lagrave Takes 3rd . 2024-09-28 . Chess.com . en-US.
  24. Web site: Doggers (PeterDoggers) . Peter . 9 December 2019 . Ding Liren Wins 2019 Grand Chess Tour . 27 July 2023 . Chess.com . en-US.
  25. Web site: Chess-Results Server Chess-results.com - 2020-2021 FIDE World Chess Candidates Tournament . 2024-09-28 . archive.chess-results.com.
  26. Web site: Ding Liren world no. 2 on May 2022 FIDE rating list . 4 June 2022 . chess24.com . en.
  27. https://chess24.com/en/read/news/sergey-karjakin-banned-from-chess-for-6-months-over-ukraine-stance Russian grandmaster Sergey Karjakin banned from chess for 6 months over Ukraine stance
  28. Web site: Barden . Leonard . 25 March 2022 . Chess: China's Ding Liren could make unlikely late bid for Candidates place . 29 March 2022 . The Guardian . en.
  29. https://www.chess.com/news/view/ding-liren-world-number-two-candidates Ding Liren Back To World #2, Plans To Reach 30 Rated Games Needed For Candidates
  30. Web site: Doggers . Peter . 20 July 2022 . BREAKING: Carlsen Not To Defend World Title . 20 July 2022 . Chess.com . en-US.
  31. Web site: Tata Steel Chess 2023: Masters Results.
  32. News: Graham . Bryan Armen . 30 April 2023 . Ding Liren defeats Ian Nepomniachtchi to win World Chess Championship – live . 30 April 2023 . the Guardian . en-GB . 0261-3077.
  33. Web site: Results & Standings - Grand Chess Tour: Superbet Chess Classic Romania 2023 . 2024-05-16 . Chess.com . en-US.
  34. Web site: Svensen (TarjeiJS) . Tarjei J. . 2023-11-04 . Ding Reveals Reason For Withdrawals, Expects Comeback In 2024 . 2024-04-22 . Chess.com . en-US.
  35. News: Metz . Hartmut . 2024-04-22 . Schach-Weltmeister Ding Liren: "Ich möchte ein netter Mensch sein" . 2024-06-02 . Die Tageszeitung: taz . de . 0931-9085 . Ich hatte einige Probleme, das ist richtig. Ich war erschöpft, konnte aber trotzdem nicht besonders gut schlafen. Das führte zu einer Depression. . I had some problems, that's true. I was exhausted, but I still couldn't sleep very well. That led to depression..
  36. Web site: Tata Steel Chess 2024: Masters Results.
  37. Web site: McGourty (Colin_McGourty) . Colin . 2024-03-31 . GRENKE Chess Day 5: Carlsen Wins Round-Robin As Ding Suffers . 2024-09-28 . Chess.com . en-US.
  38. Web site: Ding, Liren CHN Individual Calculations Chess Ratings FIDE . 2024-09-28 . ratings.fide.com.
  39. Web site: October 2024 FIDE Ratings: Gukesh Joins Arjun In World Top-5 . 1 October 2024 . chess.com.
  40. Web site: Arjun Erigaisi, Gukesh in top 5 rankings after historic Chess Olympiad; Ding Liren out of top 20 . 1 October 2024 . Indian Express.
  41. Web site: Chess-Results Server Chess-results.com - 45th Chess Olympiad Budapest 2024 . 2024-09-28 . chess-results.com.
  42. Web site: World Youth Chess Championships 2002 :: Chess.GR. 20 June 2009. 23 September 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150923202606/http://www.chess.gr/tourn/2002/wycc02/index.html. dead.
  43. Web site: Chess.GR :: World Youth Chess Championships 2004. 20 June 2009. 23 September 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150923202610/http://www.chess.gr/tourn/2004/wycc04/index.html. dead.
  44. Web site: Chinese Championship – a pictorial review. 14 June 2009.
  45. Web site: Titles approved at the 80th FIDE Congress. 19 October 2009. FIDE. 10 July 2019. 31 March 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190331165242/https://www.fide.com/component/content/article/1-fide-news/4148--titles-approved-at-the-80th-fide-congress-. dead.
  46. Web site: Chinese Championship (2011). www.chessgames.com.
  47. Web site: The Week in Chess: FIDE World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk 2011. Crowther. Mark. 21 September 2011. London Chess Center. 14 November 2011.
  48. Web site: Chinese Chess Championship (2012). www.chessgames.com.
  49. Web site: - Vachier-Lagrave tops SPICE Cup. 22 October 2012.
  50. Web site: Aronian and Gelfand win Alekhine Memorial 2013 . ChessBase News . 1 May 2013 . 2 May 2013 . 15 June 2013 . https://archive.today/20130615210831/http://www.chessbase.com/Home/TabId/211/PostId/4009694/aronian-and-gelfand-win-alekhine-memorial-2013-020513.aspx . dead .
  51. News: Convincing Win For Ding Liren In Shenzhen - Chess.com. (PeterDoggers). Peter Doggers. Chess.com. 22 December 2017. en-US.
  52. Web site: Ding Liren Wins Moscow Grand Prix. FIDE. 13 October 2017. 14 October 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171014034730/http://www.fide.com/component/content/article/1-fide-news/10192-fide-2017-moscow-grand-prix-r5-mamedyarov-ding-continue-to-lead-.html. dead.
  53. Web site: World Championship Candidates (2018) . 28 March 2018 .
  54. Web site: Results: Cross Table. Shamkir Chess. Staff writer(s). 28 April 2018.
  55. Web site: St. Louis Rapid & Blitz Winners & Losers. chess24. 15 August 2019.
  56. Web site: Results And Standings – 2019 Grand Chess Tour . . 29 August 2019.
  57. Web site: Doggers (PeterDoggers) . Peter . 5 October 2019 . Radjabov Wins FIDE Chess World Cup; Vachier-Lagrave Takes 3rd . 11 September 2023 . Chess.com . en-US.
  58. Web site: 2019 Tour Standings – 2019 Grand Chess Tour . . 8 December 2019.
  59. Web site: World Championship Candidates 2020/21 . chessgames.com . 16 November 2021.
  60. Web site: Goldmoney Asian Rapid (2021) . chessgames.com . 16 November 2021.
  61. Web site: Doggers (PeterDoggers) . Peter . Ding Liren Wins 2022 Chessable Masters . 25 July 2022 . Chess.com . 27 May 2022 . en-US.
  62. Web site: FIDE Candidates Tournament 2022 . 27 May 2023 . candidates.fide.com.
  63. Web site: Rodgers . Jack . 30 April 2023 . Ding Liren Wins 2023 FIDE World Chess Championship In Rapid Tiebreak . 30 April 2023 . Chess.com.
  64. Web site: Bai Jinshi vs Ding Liren, China 2017. Chessgames.com.
  65. Web site: The Best Chess Games Of All Time. 14 December 2022. Chess.com. It's mind over matter in this, the most recent game on the list, as Ding Liren continually places his pieces en prise to achieve relentless pressure against the white king.
  66. News: Stock . Ulrich . 2024-02-16 . Schach: Was ist los mit Ding? . 2024-11-21 . Die Zeit . de-DE . 0044-2070.
  67. News: Besorgniserregendes Update von Schach-Weltmeister . 2024-11-21 . de.
  68. News: 2024-11-21 . Schach-Weltmeister Ding Liren leidet unter psychischen Problemen . 2024-11-21 . de.