Ding, a kamikaze champion

Liren Ding was crowned the new world champion on May 1 because he made a very high-risk decision, which requires great cold-bloodedness, intelligence and self-confidence. It was the fourth and final game of the quick tiebreaker of the World Cup in Astana (Kazakhstan). The previous three had ended in draws after 7-7 of the fourteen slow games for more than three weeks. The Chinese had assumed that a new draw would hurt him because he felt inferior to his rival, the Russian Ian Niepómniashi, in the even faster run of the lightning mode.

And he decided that it was best to act like a kamikaze, nailing a tower over the king in a very complex position, with checkers on the board, even though he had less than two minutes left on the clock. Niepómniashi, who already gave the tie for sure and was repeating plays, was blocked, erred and had to settle for remaining the runner-up in the world. Meanwhile, Ding cried with joy and emotion: he was the first Chinese to achieve the absolute title after ten years of reign of the Norwegian Magnus Carlsen.