Ding prevailed in a rapid-play tiebreaker to defeat Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia. He is the first Chinese man to hold the world title.
Ding Liren of China won the world chess championship in a tiebreaker on Sunday, defeating Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia to become the first Chinese man to hold the world title.
But the result is also a setback for Russia, which had been looking to reclaim a title it has held for much of the past century and reassert its dominance in the game even as it remains a global sports pariah as a result of its invasion of Ukraine last year.
Ding’s victory sent waves through Chinese social media late in the evening, with a hashtag related to the new champion quickly amassing over 10 million views on Weibo, a Twitter-like platform. Chinese users, full of pride and relief after two anxiety-filled weeks, celebrated the championship even as some admitted to their ignorance of how to play chess. Nearly all agreed, though, on the weight of the moment.
“We Chinese have stepped atop chess’ highest stage,” one commenter wrote. “Ding Liren is the pride of China.”
The match was overshadowed from the start by the absence of Magnus Carlsen, who had held the world title since 2013. Carlsen voluntarily chose to relinquish the crown last July because he had grown weary and bored of preparing for the matches, a process that takes months.
Carlsen has long been critical of the length of time of the games for what is known as the classical world championship. Each one can take hours and, particularly in recent years, when players have been able to prepare beforehand with computers, and they often end without a decisive result. For fans, and potential sponsors, that can make the biggest event in chess less exciting. The match in Astana did not have that problem — half of the games ended in victories — but that did not change Carlsen’s opinion.
