It’s rare for journalists to applaud at a press conference. But when Ding Liren was asked after the sixth game of the World Chess Championship what he would do first if he actually won the match, Some of the press representatives actually responded to his answer with applause: “The last time I cried was after my victory. Maybe this time I’ll smile.”
Ding has spoken very openly in recent months about how strenuous life as a world champion has been after his victory against Jan Nepomnyashchi a good year and a half ago. His supposed triumph was not followed by joy and further success, but rather two hospital stays for depression and a sporting crisis. The Chinese has reported several times how difficult it has been for him to find motivation to play chess in the past few months. He went 28 games in a row without a win this year. Before the World Cup in Singapore, where Ding will play against the Indian Gukesh Dommaraju, 18, a lot was said and written about how clearly Ding would lose.
:Why the world champion is just an outsider
World chess champion Ding Liren hasn’t won a game for months, has slipped far down the world rankings – and is struggling with depression. Now the Chinese has to defend his title against the Indian Gukesh Dommaraju, 18. Does he have a chance?
Hardly anyone believed that he had a real chance of defending his title. The Indian grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi predicted a “massacre”, while the specialist portal chess.com feared a “run through” by Gukesh. “We could see a bloodbath,” said Magnus Carlsen. (Chess is just a war game.)
But now, after six games, the match is suddenly even: Ding and Gukesh have each won once, plus four draws. Most recently they drew three times in a row. The score is 3:3, the first player to score 7.5 points is the world champion. “I think it’s good for the spectators that the match is still even,” Ding said after game six. Before the start in Singapore, he himself had publicly reported his concerns that he could lose very heavily.
Ding stands out with good opening preparation so far
One can assume that this was meant seriously. The 32-year-old is known for his disarming honesty. When recently asked about his poker face, he replied: “I can’t see my reaction during the game. So I don’t know if I can keep my poker face.” Otherwise, you can’t expect any mind games from him.
The fact that he has been able to make the match so evenly balanced so far is primarily thanks to the good opening preparation by himself and his second Richard Rapport. In his first game with the white pieces, he surprised with a variant of the Italian opening and thus worked out a slightly better position for the middle and endgame. These are the phases of a game of chess in which it is less about theoretical knowledge and preparation and more about precise calculation and intuition.
The problem for Ding and his ambitions to become world champion again: he has not yet completed his preparatory work.
The world champion admits: “I didn’t know what to do.”
Instead of attacking from a good position and putting Gukesh under pressure, Ding quickly offered his opponent a way out. After 23 moves each, they agreed on a draw. “My basic idea was to play carefully,” Ding said afterwards: “I’m happy with the draw.” The sixth World Cup game on Sunday was very similar. Ding got off to a promising start again – and again he missed the chance to capitalize on it. Instead, he was looking for another quick draw. Ding seems to have lost his aggressiveness. “I didn’t know what to do,” he admitted afterwards, again disarmingly honestly.
Gukesh rejected the draw option after 26 moves, so the game became the longest of the World Cup match so far. But he didn’t see any real chance of winning himself, the challenger said afterwards. He simply wanted to play a longer game before the rest day: “I like playing chess.”
Former world champion Viswanathan Anand said during the live broadcast of the sixth game that the two opponents had “opposite approaches. Ding is very solid with White and doesn’t take much risk yet. Gukesh applies a little more pressure, but every now and then he stumbles.” On Saturday, Gukesh had made a serious mistake, but Ding had not been able to convert his opponent’s inaccurate pawn move into a victory. The game ended in a draw. Grandmaster Peter Heine Nielsen, who worked as a second for Magnus Carlsen for a long time, subsequently wrote to X: “Ding doesn’t put enough pressure on.”
And yet: Ding is making this World Cup match much closer than expected. He was able to end his winless streak at the start against Gukesh. And if he regains his desire to attack now, in the second half of the World Cup match, defending his title is quite realistic.
By the way, you can see him these days smile a lotthe world champion.
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