Eight Tactics from the New World Champion Ding Liren
"One Ding to rule them all!" This catchy phrase, coined by Anish Giri, will now become the mantra that chess fans chant during each tournament victory by Ding Liren.
In April, Ding Liren secured the prestigious World Chess Championship title in a thriller match against Ian Nepomniachtchi thus becoming the first Chinese player to join the ranks of world champions.
Currently ranked third in the world, the newly-crowned chess king is behind only former champion Magnus Carlsen and two-time championship challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi. As the highest-rated Chinese chess player in history, Ding Liren's exceptional skill and inspiring journey have captivated chess fans all over the world.
In this blog, we'll delve into seven of the most challenging puzzles from Ding's games against different chess Grandmasters to highlight the brilliance that propelled him to the pinnacle of the chess world.
1. Ding Liren vs Li Shilong, Beijing, 2010
See the solution / White to move
1. Rh8+ Kg7 2. Rh7+ Kg8 3. Qf5!! The key move missed even by chess engines. 3... Qc2+ 4. Kf3 Qd3+ 5. Kg4 Qxe4+ 6. Qxe4 f5+ 7. Kxg5 fxe4 8. Rbh1 Rf5+ 9. Kxf5 e6+ 10. Kg5 Kf8 11. Kf6 Ke8 12. Re7+ Kd8 13. Rh8#
2. Ding Liren vs Anton Filippov, Manila, 2010
See the solution / White to move
1. Rxd4 Rxd4 2. Rxd4 Rxd4 3. Nd5 cxd5 4. h7 and there's no way to stop the pawn promotion.
3. Krikor Mekhitarian vs Liren Ding, Moscow, 2011
See the solution / Black to mate in 4
1...Qxg2+ 2. Bxg2 Rxg2+ 3. Kh1 Rh7+ 4. Qh6 Rxh6#
4. Ding Liren vs Rui Gao, Cappelle la Grande, 2014
See the solution / White to move
1. Rd8! if 1... Qf6 2. Rxf8+ Qxf8 3. Qe5+ Kg8 4. Qd5+ Kh8 5. Nxg4. Else if Black responds with 1... fxe3 then 2. Rxf8+ Kg7 3. Ne6+ Kh6 4. Nxg4+ Kh5 5. Nf4#
5. Jinshi Bai vs Ding Liren, China, 2017
See the solution / Black to mate in 4
1... Ne5+ 2. Nxe5 Bf5+ 3. Kh5 Kg7+ 4. Bh6+ Rxh6#
6. Ding Liren vs Dmitry Jakovenko, Shenzhen, 2019
See the solution / Black to mate in 4
1. Bd7 Rd2+ 2. Kh3 Rh2+ 3. Kxh2 Rxd7 4. Qe8#
7. Fabiano Caruana vs Ding Liren, Saint Louis, 2019
See the solution / Black to mate in 4
1... h3 2. Rg3 hxg2+ 3. Kxg2 Rxg3+ 4. Kf1 Rh1#
8. Ding Liren vs Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, London, 2019
See the solution / White to move
1. Rf5+ mates in 10 moves Qf6 2. Rxf6+ Ke8 3. Qg6+ Kd8 4. Rf8+ Kc7 5. Qh7+ Nf7 6. Qxf7+ Kb6 7. Rb8+ Ka6 8. Bc8+ Rb7 9. Qxb7+ Ka5 10. Qa6#
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