Ding Liren becomes China's first male world chess champion

Ding Liren has go China's archetypal men's satellite chess champion, aft defeating Russia's Ian Nepomniachtchi.

Ding, 30, won a rapid-play tiebreaker aft 14 first-stage games astatine the World Chess Championship successful Kazakhstan.

He succeeds Norway's Magnus Carlsen, the five-time champion who said helium was "not motivated" to support his title.

Ding's triumph makes him the 17th victor of the satellite chess tournament, portion Nepomniachtchi, who had antecedently made a expansive final, fell astatine the last hurdle for a 2nd time.

Ding said helium was "quite relieved" aft his victory, according to comments shared by FIDE, the International Chess Federation.

"The infinitesimal Ian resigned the crippled was a precise affectional moment. I couldn't power my feelings. I cognize myself, I volition outcry and burst into tears. It was a pugnacious tourney for me."

His triumph was celebrated by chess fans and patriots successful China, which is simply a increasing chess power.

"One Ding to regularisation em all," tweeted chap grandmaster Anish Giri aft Ding's victory.

China's General Administration of Sport, a authorities department, besides posted a lukewarm congratulatory message, praising Ding for "winning glory for the motherland and its people".

A autochthonal of Wenzhou, China's "chess city", Ding triumphed successful melodramatic circumstances successful Astana, the Kazakh capital.

The opening 14 games were played implicit 3 weeks. Ding and Nepomniachtchi each won three, with 8 draws.

For the tiebreaker, each subordinate had lone 25 minutes to marque their moves, positive an further 10 seconds for each determination played. Ding clinched triumph successful winning the 4th quick-fire game.

The 2m euro (£1.8m; $2.2m) prize wealth volition beryllium divided 55-45 betwixt the 2 players.

Ding was capable to vie against Nepomniachtchi owed to Carlsen's abstention. Ding had finished 2nd astatine the Candidates Tournament, which players indispensable triumph to situation the satellite champion.

In 2009, helium became China's youngest chess champion astatine nationalist level.

Within 12 years, helium had go the highest-ranked Chinese subordinate successful the satellite rankings, reaching 2nd place.

Ding was undefeated successful classical chess for 100 games from August 2017 to November 2018. This was the longest unbeaten streak successful top-level chess past until Carlsen surpassed it successful 2019.

His triumph reflects China's maturation successful the planetary chess scene.

China has dominated women's chess tournaments since the 1990s, erstwhile Xie Jun became the archetypal Chinese idiosyncratic to assertion a satellite rubric successful 1991 successful the women's game.

No Chinese subordinate had ever antecedently won the World Chess Championship, successful which some men and women tin compete.