Ding Liren of China Wins World Chess Championship

Born in Wenzhou a year after Xie’s victory, he was taught to play chess by his father, a chess aficionado, when he was 4. He began to compete in tournaments soon after and won his first national title when he was 5. He rose to international prominence in 2009, at 16, when he became China’s domestic champion. He won the title again in 2011 and 2012.

He has been ranked as high as No. 2 in the world and is the only Chinese player to ever achieve a rating, the points system used to classify players, of more than 2,800.

Ding’s path to the title was littered with obstacles. The pandemic and China’s isolation had forced him to stop competing, but in order to play in the candidates’ tournament last year — a requirement to select a challenger for the championship match — he had to have played a minimum number of competitions. The Chinese Chess Federation stepped in to organize three tournaments early last year to allow him to satisfy the requirement.

At the candidates’ tournament, which was held last June and July in Madrid, Ding finished second behind Nepomniachtchi. Normally, that would have only qualified Nepomniachtchi to play for the title against Carlsen. But after Carlsen declined, Ding became the other challenger.

The loss was a crushing one for Nepomniachtchi. Born the same year as Carlsen and often called Russia’s answer to the Norwegian grandmaster, he had been overshadowed by his rival for years. Nepomniachtchi played Carlsen for the world title in 2021 in Dubai, but after getting off to a good start by drawing the first five games, he collapsed and lost in one of the most lopsided results in the history of the event. This year’s match, with Carlsen having stepped aside, was a golden opportunity for him.

In the news conference afterward, with members of Ding’s family and Xie, the first Chinese women’s champion, looking on, Ding was asked if the match was one of the crowning moments of his life. He struggled to explain his feelings. “The match,” he finally answered, “reflected the deepest of my soul.”

Chang Che contributed reporting from Seoul.