“Maybe I have become weaker in chess. Not as strong as before, like two years ago. This year too my performances have not gone well. In the last few months I have spent more time resting than playing.”Ding Liren can no longer be wrong. The reigning world chess champion really needs to shake off the cobwebs that have surrounded him since he won the title, just over a year ago, against the Russian Nepomniachtchi, and give a sign of awakening. The 31-year-old will take part in the Norway Chess in the next few days, one of the most important events on the calendar, with top-notch names: from Magnus Carlsen to Fabiano Caruana, from Hikaru Nakamura to Praggnanandhaa. What fans expect is that Ding begins to redeem a disastrous start to 2024, that he tries to chase away the ghosts present in his mind since he started feeling “a target”, that he returns, in other words, to the level of him. From just 2 victories in 13 matches obtained in January in Wijk aan Zee, in the Netherlands, in the last edition of the Tata Steel, to the anonymous performance at theFreestyle Chess GOAT Challenge, in the Fischer Random mode, where he has collected a series of rather embarrassing defeats for a player of his caliber: that of the last few months is not a path worthy of the one who should be, if not the best, a worthy representative of the ‘Olympus of modern chess. All these poor performances, however, made him slip to seventh place in the world rankings with an exit from the Top Ten that has never been closer.
It is impossible, despite everything, not to feel empathy for the Wenzhou native. For his always kind ways and for the honesty with which he faces the most difficult period of his life, especially in terms of mental health. But unlike the recent past, the one who will challenge him for the title now has a first and last name, Dommaraju Gukesh: the 17-year-old Indian awaits the match in November (there is still no certain date) as he awaits a sunny day after a rain of a week, with a great desire to take everything immediately and write the next page in the history of the game. In short, the possibility of losing the title has a more concrete, more tangible, even more probable form for Ding Liren. And there are not many who, to date, would bet on the 31-year-old from Wenzhou in the match against the 17-year-old Indian. But there is time to reverse course, as long as the Chinese immediately shifts into high gear.
In the interview given to The Indian Express, on the eve of the Norwegian tournament, Ding returned to his current condition, to the spiral of negativity from which he cannot escape: “Every time I play in a tournament, I lose points. Whether it’s classic or quick tournaments. Also, I played a tournament in China and came last among the six players there. So it’s not very easy for me.” Yet, the worst period, at least in words, seems behind us. “After the world championship, everything was very difficult, at the beginning I was exhausted. I got sick. Now I can say I am healed but my chess strength has not yet returned to that of my best version.”
But it is the objective that the Chinese has set himself at Norway Chess that makes it clear how complicated the period remains at this moment. “In Wijk aan Zee I was aiming to finish first and it didn’t go well. I finished the tournament not far from the bottom of the leaderboard. At the Freestyle Chess GOAT Challenge I came last. It was a big shock for me. Norway Chess will be a totally challenging new for me. There will be many strong players. My goal is to avoid finishing in last place“. Well, a world champion usually has greater ambitions and expectations but this, to date, is what the convent goes through. And Ding is the first to realize it.
In the interview, inevitably, we talked about Gukesh and the next world championship. Ding starts from the numbers, perhaps to give himself courage. “Luckily I have a very good score against him. I beat him twice in Wijk Aan Zee with the black pieces. But in November it will be like playing with a new chess player. It will be a new challenge for me.” The Chinese describes his opponent as a calm, composed player, even imitating him by folding his arms. “He plays like this.” Then the consideration that everyone makes: “he is more mature than his age”.
And on the possibility of the match being played in India, he is even more clear: “I don’t think there is an advantage in playing the world match at home. I prefer to play away. Whether in India or in any other country, rather than in China. If you play in your home country, there will be so many people who want to meet you and they will put a lot of pressure on you.” Ding could use a jolt and who knows, it might come from Stavanger and its beautiful fjords, far from Beijing and, perhaps, from too many wishes and expectations that weigh more than a crown.