Three months after losing crown, Ding Liren chillin’ away from the chess board while in Russia

Three months after the phrase Ding chillin’ entered the chess lexicon, Ding Liren seems to be finally living in a state of chilling.After that heartbreak against D Gukesh, the 18-year-old challenger from India, Ding made one of his first public appearances in Moscow last week. A short post on the Russian Chess Federation (CFR) website announced that Ding, who was in Russia’s capital last week as part of T-Private’s ‘A Move Ahead’ event, was given a tour of the CFR Chess Museum Dmitry Oleinikov, the museum’s director.
“Ding Liren took a moment to pause at a display featuring a young Gukesh winning the Russian open school tournament ‘Belaya Ladya’ as part of the Indian team,” it noted.
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At the CFR Chess Museum, Ding Liren checks out a display featuring a young Gukesh winning the Russian open school tournament ‘Belaya Ladya’ as part of the Indian team. (Photo courtesy: Vladimir Barsky for Russian Chess Federation)
The last time Ding was making headlines in Russia, the one-time chess powerhouse was angry at the 17th world champion of the sport. The president of the Russian Chess Federation (CFR), Andrei Filatov, in particular, had been pointing accusatory fingers at Ding. The Chinese world champion, Filatov alleged, had deliberately lost the 2024 World Chess Championship match to India’s Gukesh.
“The result of the last game has left professionals and chess fans perplexed. The actions of the Chinese chess player in the decisive period are extremely suspicious and require a separate investigation FIDE. Losing the position that Ding Liren was in is difficult even for a first-class player. The defeat of the Chinese chess player in today’s game raises a lot of questions and seems deliberate,” Filatov had alleged after Gukesh was crowned the 18th world champion thanks to a blunder from Ding in the final game of the 14-game match.
With time, those accusations and all that anger has dissipated as the CFR itself welcomed Ding, the man who, in 2023, denied Ian Nepomniachtchi from joining a long line of Russian world champions.
There are not many details of what else Ding was up to during his time in Russia this past week. Photos indicate that he seems to have played in a simul (a simultaneous game against multiple players) in Moscow.Story continues below this ad
He gave an interview to Russia’s Sport24 website, where he surprised the interviewer with his knowledge about Russia, particularly about Russian literature like Chekhov’s ‘Uncle Vanya’ (“a grandiose work”), pole vault queen Yelena Isinbayeva (“her records were absolutely impressive”) and Moscow’s metro stations (“many of them are decorated with beautiful paintings, mosaics — these are very remarkable places. You rarely see such a beautiful metro anywhere”).
Ding Liren made a rare public appearance after losing the world championship title to Gukesh last year. The Chinese GM smiled away as he visited the CFR Chess Museum in Moscow. (Photo courtesy: Vladimir Barsky for Russian Chess Federation)
Reclusive former champion
Over the past three months, the chess world has not seen too much of Ding. The most amiable man in chess played in the occasional event, like the play-in tournament for the Paris Freestyle Chess event, where he lost to Vidit Gujrathi.
Earlier this year, his Chinese compatriot Wei Yi had told The Indian Express that the former world champion had played in a basketball game with other chess players from China, and had smoked them.
“Ding’s good now. After he lost the World Championship match, he came back to China and played in a basketball match with us the very next day of his arrival in China. My basketball is… I’m not good at basketball. But Ding is. He has good technique,” the Chinese grandmaster had said.
So how many points did Ding score, you wonder.Story continues below this ad
“Oh, I can’t remember, but he made many, many shots,” Wei added.
Everyone reacts to becoming the world champion differently. Gukesh responded to becoming the world champion almost winning the ultra-competitive Tata Steel Masters event (eventually being denied Praggnanandhaa in a tight tiebreak). Ding, on the other hand, seemed to have been sapped of his joy after earning the crown in 2023. He had gone on a 300-day streak of being winless in classical chess. He had also confessed to being “depressed” after becoming world champion. One of the most likeable men in chess had become the most woebegone almost overnight.
“Of course, my fame grew several times (after becoming world champion). But, I’ll be honest with you, it wasn’t easy for me. It was a huge number of interviews, many different meetings… Now I understand that I wasn’t ready for all of this,” Ding confessed to Sport24 in Moscow.
But at least from the photos that the CFR shared of the former world champion on its website, Ding looks at peace. Like he has been relieved of an almighty burden that he had been shouldering for the past year.Story continues below this ad
Ding was asked Sport24 if he planned to fight for the world champion’s crown again.
His response was one that was open to interpretation: “I will say this: I have a tournament plan for this year, and I am really moving in that direction.”