Ding Liren is a Chinese chess player. In 2009, he became a chess grandmaster. In 2023, he became China’s first and 17th world chess champion.
Wiki/Biography
Ding Liren was born on Saturday, October 24, 1992, in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China (30 years old as of 2022). His zodiac sign is Scorpio. He attended Wenzhou Zhouyuan Primary School in Wenzhou, China. He became interested in chess at the age of four, when his mother and her friends took the child to a chess club to learn chess. His first chess coach was Chen Lixing. Later studied at Wenzhou Middle School in Zhejiang Province, China. He graduated from Peking University Law School in Beijing, China, majoring in law. In an interview, he talked about how he practiced playing chess at the beginning of his career, saying,
Every summer and winter vacation, I would participate in the Li Chengzhi Cup when I was a child. This is the strongest tournament for juniors. I’ve played well and won every year. I’ve played in all age groups – under 10s, 12s, 14s, etc. I played this game until I was 18, 19 years old. The Li Chengzhi Cup has helped me grow into a strong chess player, improve my chess skills, and play against other chess players from different provinces in China. “
Ding Liren’s childhood photos
appearance
Height (approximately): 5′6″
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Black
family
parents and siblings
His father, Ding Wenjun, is an electrical engineer, and his mother, Ye Xiaoping, is a nurse in a hospital.
Ding Liren and parents
wife
He is unmarried.
Relationships/Affairs
In an interview, he revealed that he has a girlfriend who is a chess player. It was reported that the two broke up in 2019. In an interview, he said about his relationship,
I have to go back to who I was in 2019. Then the epidemic came, and at the same time my girlfriend and I also had a crisis, and finally we broke up. Chess fills my life now, but I also have a good friend. She and my team of analysts did a great job of pulling me out of my emotional slump. ”
Signature / Autograph
Ding Liren’s autograph on the chessboard
Profession
chess
As a teenager, he began to regularly compete in the Lee Seung Ji Cup. In November 2003, he participated in the U-10 World Youth Championship in Heraklion and scored 9.5/11. At the age of 11, he finished 1/4 at the Chinese Men’s Team Championship in April 2004. In November 2004, he finished second at the U-12 World Youth Championship. In October 2009, he became the 30th grand master in China. In 2009, at the age of 16, he won his first Chinese chess championship, making him the youngest champion. In September 2017, he won the second place in the Chess World Cup and received a cash prize of US$80,000.
Ding Liren wins US$80,000 in 2017 Chess World Cup
In 2019, after Ding Liren defeated the then world champion Magnus Carlsen in the playoffs, he won the Sinkfield Cup with two wins and nine draws. In 2022, he participated in 5 major chess tournaments for a total prize money of $175,540. In 2023, he received a cash prize of 1.1 million euros ($1.2 million) for winning the World Chess Championship.
the medal
bronze
- 2014: Medalized at the Chess Olympiad
silver
- 2015: Won a medal at the World Team Championships
the gold
- 2014: Medalized at Chess Olympiad (team)
- 2015: Medal at the World Team Championships (Team)
- 2018: Medal at the Chess Olympiad (team)
- 2018: Medalized at the Chess Olympiad
Records and Achievements
- 2009: Became the Chinese chess champion
- 2011: Became Chinese chess champion
- 2012: Became Chinese chess champion
- 2015: Became the second Chinese player to enter the top ten of the FIDE world rankings
- 2016: Became the highest-rated Blitz player in the world with 2875 points
- 2017: Became the first Chinese chess player to qualify for the FIDE Candidates Tournament
- 2017: Won the Moscow FIDE Grand Prix
2017 Moscow FIDE Grand Prix Champion Ding Liren
- 2018: Became the first Chinese player to break through the 2800 Elo mark in the FIDE world rankings
- 2019: Win the Sinquefield Cup
Ding Liren and the Sinkfield Cup
- 2019: Winning the Chess Tour Championship
Ding Liren holding the Chess Tournament trophy
- 2023: Defeat grandmaster Ian Nepomniachtchi to win the World Chess Championship
- 2023: Become the third Asian chess player to win the world chess championship and the first Chinese player to win the world chess championship.
Favorites
- Chess players: Paco Vallejo, Veselin Topalov
- Soccer teams: Bayern Munich, Juventus
- Food: Panini, lasagna, Chinese croaker dish
- Singer: Damien Rice, “Passengers”
Facts / Trivia
- He likes to listen to Chinese music, especially folk songs.
- He doesn’t like playing video games because he finds it boring.
- In his spare time, he enjoys playing basketball and is also a football fan.
Ding Liren plays football
- Whenever he travels abroad, he always packs a porridge pot, a book and a podcast. He is an avid reader and enjoys reading novels. He listens to podcasts, especially social science content.
- According to the zodiac, his zodiac animal is “monkey”.
- His closest chess player is Chinese chess grandmaster Wei Yi.
- In an interview, when talking about the cash rewards he received after winning the game, he said that he had always given the money to his mother and did not leave any money. He said,
I don’t need it. I don’t like buying expensive and extravagant things. I like simple life. Maybe, sometimes I want to go to a restaurant and eat some delicious food, but I’ll also try to make sure it’s not too expensive. You know, when Wei Yi (Chinese chess master) was here, we sometimes just ate instant noodles, and we were so happy to have it. “
- In 2018, he had to withdraw from the Altibox Norwegian Chess Championship due to injuries sustained after falling off his bicycle. He was riding a bicycle with his father when he fell to the ground while turning at high speed and injured his leg. When he arrived at the hospital, he learned he had broken his hip. Later in the day, he was due to take part in a cook-off against some of the top chess players, in which he teamed up with Indian grandmaster Viswanathan Anand. During the cooking competition, he stayed in his chair chopping vegetables while Anand worked on hollandaise sauce and halibut fillets. However, Dingli and Viswanathan Anand won the cooking competition together.
Ding Liren and Viswanathan Anand at the 2019 Cooking Competition
- He is a travel enthusiast and has been to many countries. He likes to visit European countries and has visited Scotland, Czech Republic and Norway.
- He follows a non-vegetarian diet.
- In an interview, he talked about his daily life and what it takes to spend a normal day, saying:
I don’t like making plans for myself. When I want to learn chess, I learn chess. Usually, I wake up at 9 or 10 in the morning and cannot fall asleep earlier at night. 1am is my normal bedtime. After waking up and eating breakfast, I review the games I played yesterday. I use “2700chess.com” or “chess week” to find games. If I get some interesting games, I’ll dig into them and try to do a deeper analysis. When I finish watching the latest game, it’s usually time for lunch. I like to take a break after lunch. I do some physical exercise in the evening or play basketball with my friends. Afterwards, I played chess games online and also followed the ongoing live league matches. I also like football so if there is a game I watch it. I like to read a book or listen to music before going to bed. I think this is a normal day for me. “
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education