Ding Liren

Ding Liren was born on October 24, 1992, in the city of Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, China. The city is known for its deep chess traditions, and Ding started playing as a child. He quickly demonstrated exceptional talent and began competing at a high level in Chinese youth tournaments. In 2009, at only 16 years old, he became the youngest chess champion of China, defeating some of the country’s best players. This success was no accident – in the following years, Ding consolidated his talent and won the Chinese title two more times – in 2011 and 2012.

With his victories in the Chinese championships, Ding attracted the attention of the international stage. He participated in strong tournaments and began climbing the world rankings. In 2015, China won the Chess Olympiad in Tromsø (Norway), with Ding Liren as one of the team leaders. He continued to dominate in China, and his successes earned him invitations to elite super tournaments around the world. In 2016, Ding achieved a historic milestone by becoming the first Chinese chess player to break the 2800 ELO barrier, placing him among the best in the world.

From August 2017 to November 2018, Ding recorded 100 consecutive games without a loss against the world elite – one of the longest streaks in chess history. This streak includes the Grand Prix Final in Moscow (2017), where Ding became the first Chinese player to qualify for the Candidates Tournament.

In 2022, Ding Liren initially did not qualify for the Candidates Tournament. However, after Sergey Karjakin was disqualified by FIDE due to political statements, Ding received the opportunity to take his place. To meet the minimum games requirement, Ding organized and played a series of 28 classical games in China in less than two months – something unprecedented in chess. In the 2022 Candidates Tournament, he started hesitantly but finished with five wins in the last seven games, ending up in second place with 8/14 points, only behind Jan Nepomniachtchi. This result became decisive because later Magnus Carlsen declined to defend his world title. This means that Ding Liren, as the runner-up in the Candidates Tournament, will face Jan Nepomniachtchi for the World Championship in 2023.