“World Chess Champion Ding Liren Returns to Hangzhou to Prepare for the Asian Games with a Goal to Win Gold”

Ding Liren made a speech at yesterday’s short but grand championship celebration, photo by Wang Chuan

Yesterday, the newly promoted world chess champion Ding Liren triumphantly returned to Hangzhou, and the Hangzhou branch of the Chinese Chess Academy held a short but grand victory celebration.

In the 2023 FIDE World Championship held not long ago, Ding Liren was crowned the “World Chess King”, becoming the 17th world chess champion in the history of chess, and also the first Chinese chess champion born in the 137-year history of the championship.

At the celebration meeting, Ding Liren set himself a small goal – to win a gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games held in September this year!

After winning:

cried a lot

I find it hard to believe…

On April 30th, there was good news from Kazakhstan. Ding Liren defeated Russian chess player Nepomnyach in a rapid chess extra match, and China became the first national chess king in history.

On the same day, in the video sent back from the scene, Ding Liren sat quietly in front of the chessboard for a long time with his hands on his forehead. In an interview with the media after the game, Ding Liren said happily: “I just cried a lot, and I found it unbelievable. Thanks to my friends for their help. They helped me build up my confidence. I flinched for a while, and finally overcame myself.”

On May 23, the Hangzhou branch of the Chinese Chess Academy won the championship celebration scene. Looking back on the road to winning the championship, Ding Liren seemed very calm, and he was a little shy when he spoke. He used “twists and turns” to describe this game. He fell behind three times and equalized three times, especially in the fourth game of the decisive rapid chess extra game. He completed the counterattack under very unfavorable circumstances. He is also very proud of his performance. “This process is very difficult and not easy. After losing the game and then winning it back, I became more tenacious.” Ding Liren said with a smile.

Recalling the moment of winning the championship, Ding Liren said: “At that time, I had mixed feelings and mixed emotions.” “I am not a typical genius. I spent a lot of time playing chess. I dared to innovate and tried new training methods. , which also helped me win this championship in the end.”

After winning the championship, President Tokayev of Kazakhstan, the host country of the championship, presented Ding Liren with a chess board. This significant gift was donated to Zhisheng World Mind Sports Museum after Ding Liren brought it back to China. Afterwards, the museum will collect and display this chessboard for the appreciation of intellectual sports enthusiasts.

Zhisheng World Intellectual Sports Museum is located on the third floor of Hangzhou Intellectual Building. It exhibits 30,000 collections and 200,000 books. It is a world-class exhibition hall for intellectual sports.

At the scene, student representatives from Hangzhou Intellectual Sports Secondary Professional School presented Ding Liren with a children’s painting jointly drawn by more than 10 young chess players from the advanced chess class. In the picture, Ding Liren was thinking about the chess game. Ding Liren’s image of diligence, persistence and undivided attention has been deeply imprinted in the hearts of the children.

Wang Guoping, consultant of the Hangzhou branch of the Chinese Chess Academy, issued a letter of appointment for Ding Liren as the “Mental Sports Propaganda Ambassador”, and hired him as the Hangzhou Intellectual Sports Image Propaganda Ambassador.

Set a small goal:

Win a gold medal at the Asian Games

In the Hangzhou Asian Games in September this year, chess, which has been absent for 12 years, will be on the stage of the Asian Games together with go, chess, bridge and e-sports as one of the intellectual sports. There will be a total of four gold medals for men’s and women’s individual and men’s and women’s teams. The competition venue is the Intellectual Building in the Olympic Sports Expo City Block, Xiaoshan District, Hangzhou.

In 2022, Ding Liren was selected into the men’s national team for the Hangzhou Asian Games. This year, Ding Liren, who was born in Wenzhou, will fight at the gate of his home, and he is duty-bound to shoulder the heavy responsibility of hitting the gold medal. “The Asian Games are very important to me, and I especially hope to win the championship to repay the cultivation of the national team and the Hangzhou Chess Academy,” Ding Liren said in an interview before.

At the celebration party, he reiterated this goal: “Let’s set a small goal first, and get a gold medal!”

Since coming to Hangzhou Chess Academy in 2021, Ding Liren’s career path has gone smoothly. Won the National Games men’s open championship, was selected for the Asian Games lineup, won the runner-up in the 2022 FIDE World Championship Candidates, and became the chess champion… Ding Liren said with emotion at the celebration party: “After coming to Hangzhou, the results are very good , I have made a big breakthrough, and I will continue to work hard in the future.”

Ding Liren’s father added that Ding Liren was only interested in playing chess at the beginning, and he had a good sense of chess. It took years of persistence to get to this point. The process was very boring, and there would be repetitions. and troughs. All this depends on Ding Liren’s own persistence and repeated adjustments.

Before this championship match, Ding Liren felt tremendous pressure, and this was the first time he sought help from a psychologist during a match. “He suggested that I divert my attention, change the environment, and go outside for a walk.” At that time, Ding Liren’s doctor suggested that he use the method of “moving around and changing the scene” to adjust his mentality, which achieved better results. Now, after winning the title of Chess King, Ding Liren said frankly that all the pressure has been released, “I have adapted, and I am not as nervous and excited as before. Next, slowly treat training as a step-by-step thing.”

There are still 4 months before the Hangzhou Asian Games. Ding Liren will seize the time to actively prepare for the games, and will also participate in some challenges to warm up.