World chess champion Ding Liren knows that his performances over the past year haven’t been up to his usual high standards.
But he is confident he will be back to his best when he takes on India’s Gukesh Dommaraju in the world championship match in Singapore from Nov 25 to Dec 13.
“I didn’t do well at the recent Olympiad,” he said in Mandarin during an interview on Monday. “In the Wijk aan Zee (the Tata Steel tournament held in January in the Netherlands) too I didn’t perform up to my expectations. But, at the end of the day, a match is a match; it’s between two players. When a player starts to hit his stride, how the opponent reacts depends on his experience.”
At the Olympiad, held in Budapest, Hungary, from Sept 10 to 23, Gukesh, 18, was in brilliant form, winning nine of his 10 matches. Ding, 31, drew seven matches and lost one. He also opted out of playing against India.
Gukesh was instrumental in his team winning the title, while Ding’s poor display cost China a podium place.
Ding is the highest-rated Chinese chess player in history. But, from the beginning of this year, he has been under heavy scrutiny from the chess world for his low activity level and poor results since winning the world title in April 2023.
Norwegian Grand Master Magnus Carlsen even told Chess.com that Ding “is sort of permanently broken” and is unsure whether the former world No. 2 will actually be able to return to his peak.
Ding took eight months off from chess after his eighth place in the Superbet Chess Classic just after becoming world champion by beating Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi. He later revealed to Chess.com that he was suffering from undisclosed health issues. He also admitted to struggling with motivation and hinted at retirement.
“It doesn’t seem like I’ve been playing the way I used to, and I don’t know if I will ever reach that level again,” Ding admitted on Monday, adding that he has consulted a psychologist about his mental issues.
“I feel normal... the doctor has given some advice. I have been playing basketball after dinner, trying not to give myself too much stress.
“I feel okay. I’m not at my lowest... I feel like I have been playing decent chess but have not been winning.”
He added that “life goes on as normal”.
“I still stay at home, nothing has really changed,” he said. “I believe there will be a turning point soon. I will give my best for this World Championship.”
Ding said that he has been preparing for the Singapore match by playing at least one tournament every month. “The last tournament was the Olympiad, which ended not more than 10 days ago. That event is a classical time control with additional time after 40 moves. I believe that will help me to acclimatise and be ready for the match in Singapore.”
But many chess experts believe that Ding will find it difficult to defend his title at Resorts World Sentosa as Gukesh is playing brilliant chess.
When asked about his opponent, Ding said: “My competitor is young but also very strong.
“This test will be extremely difficult as Gukesh is in the form of his life and his Fide rating is getting closer to the 2,800 mark, while my rating has been on the decline and there’s quite a gap between him and I.”
Gukesh is ranked world No. 5 with a Fide rating of 2,794, while Ding is 21st with 2,728 points.
