Chinese grandmaster and world chess champion Ding Liren, 32, will defend his title against India’s Dommaraju Gukesh, 18, in a 14-game classical match starting November 25 in Singapore. The column continues this week with Liren’s resume.
2018 marked the height of Liren’s successes. It also brought challenges to the fore. At the 2018 Candidates Tournament in Berlin, Liren drew 13 of his 14 games and failed to qualify for a shot at the World Championship title. In the Candidates the winner plays for the title. Notwithstanding that stumble, Liren demonstrated his efficiency to the chess world by winning the Sinquefield Cup in 2019 and securing the Grand Chess Tour title.
His second attempt at the Candi-dates came in 2020 at Yekaterinburg, Russia, about when the Covid-19 pandemic began. Liren had scored 2.5 points after seven rounds when the tournament was postponed owing to the pandemic. When the Candidates resumed in April 2021, Liren scored three victories in his last three games placing him in fifth position.
In 2022 Liren tried again to win the Candidates in Madrid. He had an underwhelming start but found his stride in the second half of the tournament. He scored victories over the world’s number two Fabiano Caruana and America’s Hikaru Nakamura to finish second behind Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi. Normally this would not have qualified Liren for a World Championship match but with the stepping down of world champion Magnus Carlsen, the avenue was left open to accommodate a second place in the Candidates. Liren found himself in a match with Nepomniachtchi.
The World Championship between Liren and Nepomniachtchi in Astana, Kazakhstan, in 2023 ended in a draw 7-7 in the 14-game classical encounter leading to a rapid tiebreak. Liren won 2/1/2 to 1/1/2 in the tiebreak becoming the first Chinese player to win a Classical World Chess Championship Match.
Liren’s determination and resilience have defined his career. He remains a difficult contestant to overcome. We look forward to his impending World Championship Match.
Chess game
White Ding Liren
Black: Haik M Martirosyan
Event: 2024 Budapest Olympiad, Budapest, Hungary,
September 14. Type of Game: Queen’s Gambit Declined;
Semi-Tarrasch Defence
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c5 5. cxd5 cxd4 6. Qxd4 exd5 7. e4 dxe4 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8
9. Ng5 Be6 10. Bb5 a6 11. Ba4 Nbd7 12. O-O Nc5 13. Rd1+ Ke7 14. Bc2 Rc8 15. Be3 h6
16. Bxc5+ Rxc5 17. Ngxe4 Nxe4 18. Bxe4 b5 19. Rac1 f5 20. Bd5 Bxd5 21. Nxd5+ Kf7
22. Nc7 Rxc1 23. Rxc1 Be7 24. Nxa6 Rd8 25. g3 Rd2 26. b4 Rxa2 27. Nc7 Rb2 28. Nxb5 Rxb4 29. Nc3 Rc4 30. Ne2 Re4 31. Nc3 Rc4 ½-½. Draw.
