In 1995, the iconic Russian player Viktor Korchnoi traveled to the city of Wenzhou, on the Chinese coast, to face local figure Xie Jun. That event did not go unnoticed by the Ding family, who a year later decided that his daughter, Ding Liren (1992), only four years old, would begin to learn the game of 64 squares. In addition to the efforts of his parents, a nurse and an electrical engineer, the talent of an introverted child was added to years later, breaking all possible records in a country that until 1990 had no great teacher and becoming the first world champion of his history.
Chess in China did not shine until in the 1970s when a Malaysian millionaire (Tan Chin Nam) conceived the so-called Dragon Project, which sought to popularize the sport in the country to make it the greatest world power in 2010. They joined this plan China’s growth as an economic power and government support. This allowed the country to proclaim itself Olympic team champion in 2014 and 2018. By then, the Chinese players already dominated sports-science with solvency in their category (since 1991 the number one has been Chinese almost without interruption), highlighting Hou Yifan (the only woman to have reached the top 100), and Ju Wenjun, current champion. .
In men, it soon became clear that Ding Liren was called to be the benchmark. Sub-10 and sub-12 world runner-up, and Chinese champion at the age of 16, in 2009, when he also became a grandmaster. In 2015 he entered the absolute top 10, from which he has not left since 2018, and began to achieve feats at the level of the best in history, such as being undefeated for a year, three months and two days, a record that he would later break. Magnus Carlsen, being runner-up in the World Cup on two occasions or exceeding 2,800 ELO points. But his rocky style, not without creativity, seemed not enough to become world champion. More after during the pandemic he barely played. He had not even qualified for the Madrid Candidates Tournament (2022), from which Carlsen’s challenger would emerge. But a series of lucky circumstances would lead him to glory.
To begin with, the International Federation (FIDE) decided to exclude the Russian Sergei Karyakin from the Candidates for his support for Vladimir Putin in the war in Ukraine and granted an invitation to Ding. Installed in the world top 3 for some time, the Chinese finished second after an imperial Ian Nepomniatchi, who repeated his victory to challenge the Norwegian. However, the dominator of chess in the last ten years decided to resign due to lack of motivation. And Ding took his place. Again luck smiled on the Chinese.
The World Cup, held last April in Astana (Kazakhstan), was an imperfect but spectacular battle. As in historical duels, there were dramatic components, such as Ding spending very long periods of time in the break room during heartbreak games (he had broken up with his girlfriend shortly before). In chess, the Russian was always one step ahead, but Ding survived everything, whose humble and ascetic personality had always raised doubts in large games. A lover of philosophy and reflection, Ding was also able to transform on the board to be voracious. In the tiebreaker he was brave as few times, almost kamikaze, and that risk allowed him to take the title to China in the first time he was ahead on the scoreboard.
Like Karpov after Fischer’s resignation in 1975, Ding must now prove that he is not an impostor. Hardly Carlsen, who is still number one, will fight for the crown again. The Norwegian, a money maker, is very critical of the format and seems focused on other tournaments and his companies. Thus, Ding has before him the possibility of becoming dominant in the coming years. Also for China, economically and geopolitically hegemonic, owning the two chess crowns acquires enormous historical symbolism.
