Ding Liren’s desire to become the 17th World Chess champion was manifested on the board in a manner consistent with his inner aspirations. The 30-year-old is the first Chinese monarch to rule 64 squares. In a brief tiebreaker, he triumphed over Ian Nepomniachtchi on Sunday in Astana, Kazakhstan.
Russian Nepo, who participated in this event under the FIDE flag and signed an anti-war letter, lost for the second time in the World Matchplay. Magnus Carlsen had defeated him two years prior in Dubai.
Next World Chess Champion
The fourth and final rapid tiebreaker game was won by Ding with the black pieces in 68 moves using the Closed Ruy Lopez opening. The opening three games were all ties. In the event of a protracted deadlock, blitz games were allowed.
The opening battle of Nepo, which rendered his bishop at b1 passive, Ding’s decision to play Rg6 on the 46th move rather than go for the threefold repetition, and the picturesque march of the ‘a’, ‘c’, and ‘g’ pawns were the highlights of the fourth game. Ding had the additional pawn in the endgame, which involved the queen and dark-squared bishops.
- Ding Liren’s desire to become the 17th World Chess champion.
- Magnus Carlsen had defeated him two years prior in Dubai.
- This is the first time a male citizen of China has attained the top.
Ding said during the post-game press conference that “the match symbolizes the absolute essence of my soul. I’m so emotional and relieved. I was powerless over my feelings. I labored arduously for 26 years to get here. On occasion, it has been addicting.
Due to touring with his parents, Richard Rapport, and being in tune with nature, Nepo was able to win the match. He also expressed gratitude to former world champion Vladimir Kramnik for his assistance and expressed a desire to play chess more.
Before Ding, six Chinese women—from Xie Jun in 1991 through Ju Wenjun in 2018—had won the women’s global matchplay championship. China has recently won numerous team gold medals in the Olympics in both divisions. However, this is the first time a male citizen of the nation has attained the top.
The ‘Dragon Project’ was launched in the middle of the 1970s by Malaysian businessman Tan Chin Nam, who claimed that China had enormous potential in the field of mental games. Chess had been outlawed in China for eight years before this.
The germ has finally arrived at its final destination with a dash of destiny, as Ding only made it into the championship game because of Magnus Carlsen’s withdrawal.
