Ding Liren

Ding Liren (; born 24 October 1992) is a Chinese chess grandmaster and the reigning World Chess Champion. He is the highest-rated Chinese chess player in history and also a three-time Chinese Chess Champion. He was the winner of the 2019 Grand Chess Tour, beating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the finals and winning the 2019 Sinquefield Cup—the first player since 2007 to beat Magnus Carlsen in a playoff. Ding is the first Chinese player ever to play in a Candidates Tournament and pass the 2800 Elo mark on the FIDE world rankings. In July 2016, with a Blitz rating of 2875, he was the highest-rated Blitz player in the world. In July 2023, Ding became the No. 1 ranked Rapid player, with a rating of 2830. Ding was undefeated in classical chess from August 2017 to November 2018, recording 29 victories and 71 draws. This 100-game unbeaten streak was the longest in top-level chess history, until Carlsen surpassed it in 2019. Ding came second in the Candidates Tournament 2022: this qualified him for the World Chess Championship 2023 against Ian Nepomniachtchi, as Carlsen declined to defend his title. Ding won, making him World Chess Champion, by defeating Nepomniachtchi 2½ to 1½ in the rapid tie breaks. Early life and education Ding was born in Wenzhou, China, and started learning chess when he was four years old. He attended Wenzhou Zhouyuan Elementary School, and is a graduate of Zhejiang Wenzhou High School and Peking University Law School. Chess career