1. Ding Liren is a three-time Chinese Chess Champion, was a member of the Chinese chess teams that won the Chess Olympiads in 2014 and 2018, and is currently signed to the professional esports club LGD Gaming.
21 Facts About Ding Liren
1. 2.
In July 2023, Ding Liren became the No 1 ranked Rapid player, with a rating of 2830.
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Ding Liren achieved his highest classical rating of 2816 in November 2018 and a peak classical ranking of No 2 in November 2021 behind Magnus Carlsen.
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Ding Liren was undefeated in classical chess from August 2017 to November 2018, recording 29 victories and 71 draws.
5.
Ding Liren ended up being the runner-up of Chess World Cups in 2017 and 2019 consecutively and came second in the Candidates Tournament in 2022: this qualified him for the World Chess Championship 2023 against Ian Nepomniachtchi, as Carlsen declined to defend his title.
6.
Ding Liren was born in Wenzhou, China, and started learning chess when he was four years old.
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Ding Liren attended Wenzhou Zhouyuan Elementary School, and is a graduate of Zhejiang Wenzhou High School and Peking University Law School.
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Ding Liren is a three-time Chinese Chess Champion and has represented China at all four Chess Olympiads from 2012 to 2018, winning team gold medals in 2014 and 2018, and individual bronze and gold medals in 2014 and 2018, respectively.
9.
Ding Liren won team gold and individual silver at the World Team Championships in 2015.
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Ding Liren is the winner of the 2019 Grand Chess Tour, beating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the finals, and the 2019 Sinquefield Cup, beating Magnus Carlsen in the finals.
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In July 2016, with a Blitz rating of 2875, Ding Liren was the highest-rated Blitz player in the world.
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At the Candidates Tournament 2018, Ding Liren placed 4th with 1 win and 13 draws, the only candidate without a loss at the event.
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Ding Liren went on to win the Grand Chess Tour final, beating Aronian in the semi-finals and Vachier-Lagrave in the finals.
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Ding Liren had a poor start, winning one game, losing three, and drawing three in the first half of the tournament before it was suspended.
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Ding Liren had been unable to travel to tournaments outside China during the COVID-19 pandemic, and was thus short of the minimum games requirement for qualification, but the Chinese Chess Association organized three different rated events at short notice to allow him to qualify.
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Ding Liren then defeated Nepomniachtchi in rapid tiebreaks, winning the fourth game as Black.
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Ding Liren became the first Chinese player to hold the title of World Chess Champion.
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Ding Liren scored no wins, four losses, and six draws in the classical games.
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Ding Liren won 2 out of 6 Armageddon games, against R Praggnanandhaa and Hikaru Nakamura.
20.
In game 14, Ding Liren made a crucial mistake in the endgame by allowing his opponent to force a trade of two pieces while down a pawn, transforming a drawn position into a loss.
21.
Ding Liren is accompanied by his mother on his travels.