02-05-2023, 12:39 AM
The story of Ding Liren's Road to become World chess champion:
The Candidates qualifiers:
1. July 2021: Ding is unable to play the World Cup (the first candidates qualifier) due to Chinas Corona Restrictions
2. October 2021: Ding along with 12 of the 20 top players decided not to play The Fide Gran Prix (the second candidates qualifier), due to Covid concerns
3. February 2022: Ding misses the first Gran Prix round (The third candidates qualifier) due to healt issues
4. March 2022: Ding misses the second Gran Prix round due to China's Covid restrictions f'ing up his Visa application
5. Even though Ding is the 2nd highest rated in the world at this point the wildcard has already been given to Teimor Radjabov
5. Ding is out of contention at this point, largely due to factors beyond his control
The twist:
1. Karjakin decides to endorse and make fun of victims in an active war zone and is disqualified from any FIDE events for 6 months
2. The regulations says the highest rated player on the next months rating list will be the replacement
3. But Ding has not played enough games and is considered inactive unless he plays 28 classical games in a single month
4. He joins a series of tournaments that will allow him to reach 30 games, but he still has to maintain his rating and not drop below Aronian or Wesley So
5. He not only maintains but even gains rating up to 2806 and is awarded Karjakins spot to the Candidates 2022.
(There was some controversy though as the 28 games was mainly played against his countrymen and most of them signficantly lower rated than him at that. Though most top players agrees that due to him being the clear nr 2 in the world combined with his unfortunate circumstances he deserved the final spot).
The Candidates:
1. June 2022 Ding get's off to a horrible start, losing his first game to Nepo
2. He then goes on a 7 game draw streak and stays stuck on a -1 score while Nepo and Fabi sparates themselves as favourites with +4 and +3 respectively.
3. Ding is mostly considered out of contention at this point, but out of nowhere he goes on a 3 game win streak, Beating fabi in the process!
4. However his momentum is stopped dead by a brutal loss to Teimor Radjabov, and Nepo wins the Candidates with an insane +5 score with 2 rounds to spare!
5. But for the first time in history the second place in the candidates tournament might actually matter because of Carlsens announced intention to not defend his title.
6. At this point Ding and Nakamura are the only players except Nepo with a + score, but Naka is at +2 and Ding is at +1, and as if written they will be playing each other in the final round!
7. Ding Liren HAS to beat Nakamura on demand to get the possible second Championship match spot. And the guy god damn goes and does it! Therby bringing himselves to +2 and taking Naka down to +1 at the same time!
8. Magnus proceeds to step down from the title, and the two world championship challengers are Ding and Nepomniachtchi!
The Championship Match:
1. After Game 1 Ding is candid about struggling mentally and feeling depressed
2. In game 2 disaster strikes, Ding loses with White. Giving Nepo the lead which is normally a significant advantage due to only needing draws.
3. In game 3 Ding holds a hard draw with black, and in Game 4 he strikes back! The score is even and it's basically down to a 10 game match now.
4. Pandemonium ensues. Nepo immediately strikes back in game 5 and takes the lead again, but Ding comes back and equalizes again in game 6!
5. But wouldn't you know it Nepo goes and wins game 7 and Ding is down in the match for the third time at the half point of the match, and Nepo finally stablizes and draws game 8.
6. After 3 more draws, by Game 12 Ding only has 2 games left with the advantage of the white pieces. But by this point there is one thing you can count on; Ding Liren does NOT stay down, and he somehow manages to fight back and win again to equalize the score!
7. The last 2 classical games are draws and they are going to Tiebreaks!!
Tie breaks:
1. In a 4 game rapid match Ding randomly picks white first, but Nepo holds a draw.
2. Game 2 is a draw as well, and in his final white game Ding is actually on the verge of losing but manages to survive.
3. Nepo has the advantage of White in the last game and get's a good position.
4. The game is extremely complicated but in the end it seems like it will end in a draw. But to everyones surprise Ding declines the repetiton and starts pressing for a win!
5. Playing the extremely risky looking Rg6 he manages to outplay Nepo in a completely chaotic position, and with seconds remaining on the clock Ding becomes the new World Champion!
6. Something incredible is that in a match with this many twists and turns; Ding didn't lead the match a single time until the very moment Ian resigned the final game!
TLDR:
Anyone who says Ding doesn't deserve to be world champion needs to educate themselves. The amount of adversities this guy had to overcome to get to where is now, the amount of setbacks he faced and the amount of times he got back up and fought back is honestly one of the most inspiring feats I've seen in my life!
As a Norwegian it hurts to see Magnus go, but I can't think of anyone more deserving of taking his place at this point.
Congratulation World Champion Ding Liren!
The Candidates qualifiers:
1. July 2021: Ding is unable to play the World Cup (the first candidates qualifier) due to Chinas Corona Restrictions
2. October 2021: Ding along with 12 of the 20 top players decided not to play The Fide Gran Prix (the second candidates qualifier), due to Covid concerns
3. February 2022: Ding misses the first Gran Prix round (The third candidates qualifier) due to healt issues
4. March 2022: Ding misses the second Gran Prix round due to China's Covid restrictions f'ing up his Visa application
5. Even though Ding is the 2nd highest rated in the world at this point the wildcard has already been given to Teimor Radjabov
5. Ding is out of contention at this point, largely due to factors beyond his control
The twist:
1. Karjakin decides to endorse and make fun of victims in an active war zone and is disqualified from any FIDE events for 6 months
2. The regulations says the highest rated player on the next months rating list will be the replacement
3. But Ding has not played enough games and is considered inactive unless he plays 28 classical games in a single month
4. He joins a series of tournaments that will allow him to reach 30 games, but he still has to maintain his rating and not drop below Aronian or Wesley So
5. He not only maintains but even gains rating up to 2806 and is awarded Karjakins spot to the Candidates 2022.
(There was some controversy though as the 28 games was mainly played against his countrymen and most of them signficantly lower rated than him at that. Though most top players agrees that due to him being the clear nr 2 in the world combined with his unfortunate circumstances he deserved the final spot).
The Candidates:
1. June 2022 Ding get's off to a horrible start, losing his first game to Nepo
2. He then goes on a 7 game draw streak and stays stuck on a -1 score while Nepo and Fabi sparates themselves as favourites with +4 and +3 respectively.
3. Ding is mostly considered out of contention at this point, but out of nowhere he goes on a 3 game win streak, Beating fabi in the process!
4. However his momentum is stopped dead by a brutal loss to Teimor Radjabov, and Nepo wins the Candidates with an insane +5 score with 2 rounds to spare!
5. But for the first time in history the second place in the candidates tournament might actually matter because of Carlsens announced intention to not defend his title.
6. At this point Ding and Nakamura are the only players except Nepo with a + score, but Naka is at +2 and Ding is at +1, and as if written they will be playing each other in the final round!
7. Ding Liren HAS to beat Nakamura on demand to get the possible second Championship match spot. And the guy god damn goes and does it! Therby bringing himselves to +2 and taking Naka down to +1 at the same time!
8. Magnus proceeds to step down from the title, and the two world championship challengers are Ding and Nepomniachtchi!
The Championship Match:
1. After Game 1 Ding is candid about struggling mentally and feeling depressed
2. In game 2 disaster strikes, Ding loses with White. Giving Nepo the lead which is normally a significant advantage due to only needing draws.
3. In game 3 Ding holds a hard draw with black, and in Game 4 he strikes back! The score is even and it's basically down to a 10 game match now.
4. Pandemonium ensues. Nepo immediately strikes back in game 5 and takes the lead again, but Ding comes back and equalizes again in game 6!
5. But wouldn't you know it Nepo goes and wins game 7 and Ding is down in the match for the third time at the half point of the match, and Nepo finally stablizes and draws game 8.
6. After 3 more draws, by Game 12 Ding only has 2 games left with the advantage of the white pieces. But by this point there is one thing you can count on; Ding Liren does NOT stay down, and he somehow manages to fight back and win again to equalize the score!
7. The last 2 classical games are draws and they are going to Tiebreaks!!
Tie breaks:
1. In a 4 game rapid match Ding randomly picks white first, but Nepo holds a draw.
2. Game 2 is a draw as well, and in his final white game Ding is actually on the verge of losing but manages to survive.
3. Nepo has the advantage of White in the last game and get's a good position.
4. The game is extremely complicated but in the end it seems like it will end in a draw. But to everyones surprise Ding declines the repetiton and starts pressing for a win!
5. Playing the extremely risky looking Rg6 he manages to outplay Nepo in a completely chaotic position, and with seconds remaining on the clock Ding becomes the new World Champion!
6. Something incredible is that in a match with this many twists and turns; Ding didn't lead the match a single time until the very moment Ian resigned the final game!
TLDR:
Anyone who says Ding doesn't deserve to be world champion needs to educate themselves. The amount of adversities this guy had to overcome to get to where is now, the amount of setbacks he faced and the amount of times he got back up and fought back is honestly one of the most inspiring feats I've seen in my life!
As a Norwegian it hurts to see Magnus go, but I can't think of anyone more deserving of taking his place at this point.
Congratulation World Champion Ding Liren!