He loves watching and listening to the rain. But he’s also just become world chess champion, triumphing in a sport that involves a lot of mental boxing. Ding Liren, 30, has been playing chess extensively since he was four. However, he went to law school because his father didn’t want him to drop out. He also reads a lot, especially philosophy. Ding – heir to the throne of Norwegian chess player Magnus Carlsen after beating Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi in an electrifying fast tiebreak – spoke to EL PAÍS in Astana, Kazakhstan for 20 minutes. What follows includes quotes from previous interviews Ding has conducted with Chinese media.
Between the celebration, the excitement, and speaking to 15 different Chinese media outlets, Ding didn’t sleep a minute all night. “I only had time to shower,” he says. The immensely humble chess champion, who finds it difficult to express himself in English, feels alien in a place full of cameras, cables and all sorts of gadgets. But Ding wants to answer any questions to the best of his ability. “I understand that the press is important.” Just before speaking to this newspaper, he broke down in tears during the recording of his official interview with the International Chess Federation (FIDE). Ding got emotional as he started explaining the advice a friend gave him after he lost the second game of the World Chess Championship.
International Chess Federation President Arkady Dvorkovich (L) presents the trophy to Chinese grandmaster Ding Liren during the closing ceremony of the 2023 FIDE World Chess Championship in Astana, Kazakhstan.RADMIR FAHRUTDINOV (EFE)
At that moment he remembered the title of a book by the American poet Louise Glück: “Until the world reflects the deepest needs of the soul”. Ding explained that he adapted this idea to deal with his professional and emotional challenges, which were shaped by his breakup with his girlfriend at the time. “Some of my metrics have made me a better player,” he says, citing what happened on Saturday when he was on the brink of defeat for six and a half hours before ending the final classical game of the tournament in a draw. “I remembered Albert Camus talking about the concept of resistance. The idea is that if you see you can’t win, do whatever you can to resist. And that memory gave me the determination I needed.”
Ding sees a great connection between philosophy and chess since “both are abstract”. But chess is also a highly competitive sport that requires a lot of pragmatism and efficiency from the players. As a result, Ding says he has to put aside the more emotional side of his personality when playing chess. “I’m both very emotional and rational. And I’m also an art lover. In my normal life I like to watch and listen to the rain and also play basketball. But when I come to a tournament, I have to forget those feelings to be stricter and more professional.”
But there are very different ways of embracing this professionalism. Russian chess player Garry Kasparov – who was No. 1 from 1985 until his retirement in 2005 – was not satisfied with winning the game, he wanted to crush his opponent. Indian chess player Viswanathan Anand, five-time world champion and practicing Hindu, never showed the slightest trace of Kasparov’s killer instinct. Ding has his own approach: “I consider myself an academic, a scholar who really likes to study, and I think I’ve found new ways of approaching chess. When I reached 2,500 points on the international list [among the 700 best in the world]and decided to raise my level, I realized I had to take on the challenge of being very competitive as well.”
China’s Ding Liren plays against Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi during their FIDE World Chess Championship in Astana, Kazakhstan, Saturday, April 29, 2023. Stanislav Filippov (AP)
Ding was born in Wenzhou, China. His mother is a nurse and traveled with him to the three-week World Chess Championship in Astana. His father is an electrical engineer who insisted that Ding continue learning, although his talent for chess was evident from an early age. But his father didn’t give up: Ding had to complete a five-year law degree, although he knew from the start that he didn’t like it at all. “These are things I’d rather not talk about a lot.”
Instead, when asked how he intends to remain world champion, Ding enthusiastically replies: “I have to build a strong team, with great teachers and powerful computers. In short, I have to become more professional.” Just a day earlier, he had said that being world champion wasn’t so important to him, it was more about becoming a better and better player. So how did he find the motivation to win such an extremely tough final? “The master key was my analyst, [Romanian chess player, No.12 in the world] Richard Rapport. He brought all the creativity that I lacked in my openings [ways to start a game].” If Ding manages to build his dream team, he won’t be afraid of anyone: “I’m ready for any challenge, including playing against Carlsen if he wants to win back the title or defend against the young stars.”
China’s Ding Liren speaks after his victory at the FIDE World Chess Championship in Astana, Kazakhstan, Sunday, April 30, 2023. China’s Ding Liren beat Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi in a thrilling final. Stanislav Philippov (AP)
Ding switched to kamikaze mode at two points in the tournament, with contrasting results. He lost the seventh game from a very advantageous position when he staged a risky attack with very little time on the clock instead of playing cautiously until move 40 when 60 minutes hit the players’ clocks. “There’s a simple explanation for that. I just didn’t realize how pressed for time I was.” On the other hand, Ding won the last tie-break in rapid under very similar circumstances: “It was clear to me that Niepo was the favorite, both in rapid and blitz [where players are given five minutes each for the entire game]. And if that game had ended in a draw, like the previous three quick tiebreaks, we would have gone to the Blitz. So I played to win.”
In his interview with FIDE, Ding turned to a Woody Allen film when he asked if winning the championship was the happiest moment of his life: “[Woody Allen] says that the English expression “I love you” does not always mean that one loves someone very much, that there should be a higher expression. In my case, happy isn’t enough, it needs a stronger word. It’s a huge liberation.” So much so that he considered quitting chess, he says. “Before the World Cup I told a friend that if I lost I would quit. And also that knowing myself well, I would cry a lot if I won. I won, I cried a lot, I will not retire and life is going in a different direction now.”
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