The case of the disappearing world champion may (or may not) be about to be solved. China’s Ding Liren has only competed once since he won the title five months ago, following Magnus Carlsen’s abdication. That was in Bucharest in May, where the newly crowned champion finished next to last.
Ding was scheduled to lead China’s team and also to compete in the individual chess competition at the Asian Games, to be staged in his home city of Wenzhou with the opening ceremony on Saturday, but in the run-up Chinese news media carried conflicting reports on whether he will actually appear.
The 30-year-old had been expected to play in one of the teams in the Global League, chess’s first franchise-based competition, which was staged in Dubai across June and July, but withdrew at short notice. Last week, Ding was scheduled to meet India’s Arjun Erigaisi in the first round of chess.com’s Speed Chess Challenge, a high-class online competition among the world’s best that has only been won by Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura.
If Ding had played and defeated Erigaisi, he would have expected to meet Carlsen in the quarter-finals over a series of 5+1 and 3+1 blitz and 1+1 bullet games spread over several hours. Carlsen would have been the heavy favourite, both because of his exceptional speed skills and because Ding has a history of connection issues in his previous internet tournaments.
However, the day before his match with Erigaisi, it was announced Ding had withdrawn and been replaced by Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi, the player who Ding defeated in their memorable match for the world crown in April. No official reason was given, but there were reports he was unwell.
Being the hometown favourite, as Ding will or would have been in Wenzhou, can be a handicap. Carlsen has had setbacks in Oslo, Vishy Anand had some in India during his peak years. The phenomenon appeared again earlier this month at the Tata Steel Rapid and Blitz in Kolkata, when the experience of France’s Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in rapid and of Russia’s Alexander Grischuk in blitz proved superior to the local enthusiasm for Dommaraju Gukesh and Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa.
Vachier-Lagrave attributed his success to vast experience of his favourite Grünfeld and Najdorf Sicilian defences, and also to his knowledge of chess classics.
His fine victory over Vincent Keymer, with its key manoeuvres Kd2-c3 and Nf3-g1-h3-f4, was consciously inspired by Tigran Petrosian’s win over Samuel Reshevsky in the USSR v USA match at the 1968 Lugano Olympiad.
The then world champion’s knight regroup Ng1-e2-f4 between moves 19-22 increased his strategic advantage decisively, and the whole game is an excellent lesson in how to play the London System (1 d4 and an early Bf4), which is a current favourite among many amateurs.
Petrosian v Reshevsky would have been Petrosian v Bobby Fischer, but the American legend arrived at the Lugano playing arena and refused to play unless the lighting was improved to his satisfaction. No compromise could be reached, so Fischer departed the Olympiad without pushing a pawn.
Many chess fans rate the Speed Championship as the most watchable of all the numerous online events. The 2022 final was a classic, with Nakamura edging out Carlsen in the final minute. Friday’s final and commentary, free to view, starts at 8pm BST on chess.com. Carlsen and Nakamura, who between them have monopolised all the previous seven renewals, have again been dominant.
Carlsen defeated Vidit Gujrathi, Ian Nepominachtchi and Wesley So, all by wide margins, while Nakamura eliminated Yu Yangyi, Fabiano Caruana, and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Carlsen, normally his own severest critic, declared himself “happy” with his play.
Faustino Oro, the Argentine prodigy with a fast growing reputation, has just achieved the youngest ever international master norm. Oro finished joint second in a 10-player round robin in Buenos Aires, scoring 6.5/9 for a performance rating of 2452. At nine years nine months, he broke the record set by Keymer in 2015 by six months. Oro now needs two more norms plus a 2400 rating for the IM title.
Earlier, Oro became the youngest ever 2200-rated player, at nine years three months, and the youngest 2300, at nine years six months. He learned the game at six, and his early progress was entirely self-taught through watching chess videos on the internet after his father created an account for him on chess.com “to stop him kicking footballs inside the house”.
Appropriately, Oro’s latest success was achieved at an event staged to mark the 70tieth anniversary of Oscar Panno’s victory in the 1953 junior world championship, which launched a career at the highest level including the 1956 Candidatesand an epic loss to Mikhail Tal in 1958. Panno, now a sprightly 88, attended the ceremony.
3886: 1...Ke6! wins with the threat of Rc2+ and mate. The best White can do is 2 Bc3 Rc2 3 e4 dxe4 (threat Rb3) 4 Kc4 Rxb6 5 Qg4 Rc6+ 6 Kb4 R6xc3 and Black will soon queen his h pawn.
