Missing-in-action champ Ding Liren plans return to chessboard

Does the name Ding ring a bell?

You may be excused if you don’t quite recall the name, seeing as how GM Ding Liren has been largely missing in action since he defeated Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi in thrilling fashion in Kazakhstan in April to become the first Chinese world chess champion. He played in just one rated tournament in May and withdrew from a string of events in the months that followed. His radio silence since then has led to some concern about the health and stability of the slight, soft-spoken new champ.

Now two very different Ding sightings may ease the concerns. Ding himself emerged last month in a session with Chinese reporters to acknowledge some health issues following the match but also to announce he would return to the board for the famed Tata Steel Chess Masters tournament in Wijk aan Zee, the Dutch coastal town and chess mecca.

And U.S.-based Croatian GM Davorin Kuljasevic is out with the well-timed “Ding Liren’s Best Games: A Chess Biography” (New In Chess, 326 pp., $27.95), a collection of 58 well-annotated full games and numerous partial scores from the Chinese star’s career, with Ding contributing some of the analysis himself.

As with almost all biographies — chess and otherwise — the really interesting chapters here are at the front, before the famous subject did the things he would become famous for.

Take, for instance, the brilliant victory over veteran Chinese GM Ni Hua at the 2009 Chinese Championship, when the little-known 16-year-old Ding captured the first of his three national titles. Heavily outrated by Black, Ding manages to score a clear opening victory in this deeply analyzed Grunfeld line, as 10. d5 Ne5 (snatching the pawn with 10…Bxc3+?! 11. Bd2 Bxd2+ 12. Qxd2 Na5 13. h4 Bg4 14. h5! is known to be trouble for Black) 11. Nxe5 Bxe5 12. Rb3!? (unusual but not bad; much more often seen is 12. Qd2) Qd6?! (already temporizing; 12…c4! 13. Bxc4 Qc7 gives Black good compensation for the pawn) 13. Qd2 e6 14. f4 Bg7 c4, and White has built up a formidable pawn center.

Ding builds on his good position with 15…e5 16 f5! gxf5 17. exf5 Bxf5 18. 0-0 Bg6 19. h4! (Rxb7?! e4 20. Bb2 Bxb2 21. Qxb2 Rab8 allows Black to equalize) — White repeatedly spurns the hanging Black b-pawn, as the rook on b3 is earmarked for the kingside attack to come.

Black’s discomfort only increases after 20. Qg5! e4 21. Bxh5 Rae8 (Kuljasevic notes that 21… Bxh5 22. Qxh5 Qg6 23. Rf5! b6 24. Qg5 also leaves White clearly in charge) 22. Be2 Qe7 23. h5 Bh7 24. Rg3! (eschewing that Black b-pawn for good to up the pressure on the g-file) Qxg5 25. Bxg5, and the exchange of queens has done nothing to ease Black’s defensive burden.

The teenager displays impressive chess maturity in converting the strong positional advantage into a win: 25…Bd4+ (on 25…Kh8, White has the Fischer-esque 26. Rf6!!, leading to lines like 26…Re5 27. Bh4 Rf5 29. Rxg7! Kxg7 29. h6+ Kg8 30. g4 Rxf6 31. Bxf6, and nothing can stop the White d-pawn from advancing) 26. Kh2 Be5 27. Bf6+!! (27. Bf4+ was also good, but Ding’s unexpected idea will impose a crippling bind on his opponent’s game) Bxg3+ 28. Kxg3 e3 29. Rf4 Bc2 30. Kf3 Kh7 31. g4! — the bishop on f6 essentially dominates the entire board and Black’s tied-down pieces can’t resist the coming pawn storm.

White seals the deal with the hyperefficient 32. g5 a6 33. h6 Bg6 (Bh7 34. a4 holds out longer, but Ni faces positional asphyxiation) 34. h7+ Bxh7 35. Rh4, and Black resigns as he is helpless against the simple threat of 36. Bd3 Bxd3 37. Rh8 mate.

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Fast-forward a few years and Ding himself annotates in the book his famous sacrificial masterpiece against GM Jinshi Bai, played in a round of the Chinese Chess League in 2017. Ding is known for his almost shy, frail aspect, but the fiery sacrifices here are on a par with the best combinational masterpieces of such alpha grandmasters as Alekhine and Kasparov.

Black admits his early discomfort in this complicated Nimzo-Indian, as Jinshi’s 11. Bg3 Ne4!? 12. Nd2! (made instantly and part of the younger player’s pre-game prep) puts the pressure on Black to protect his shaky center.

Ding rises to the challenge with 14. Nf3 e5! 15. Nxe5 (White took 30 minutes on this move, signaling the homework analysis had run out; Ding rates the wild line 15. Bxe5 Nxe5 16. Nxe5 Re8 17. Nf3 Bf5! 18. Qxf5 dxc3 19. Rxd8 c2+ 20. Ke2 c1=Q 21. Ne5 Qxb2+ 22. Kf3 Qxe5 23. Qxe5 Raxd8 24. Qb2 a5 as only equal) dxc3!?, sacrificing his queen for a powerful speculative attack.

White accepts the challenge with 16. Rxd8 (Nxc6?? Bf5! wins for Black) cxb2+, but now misses the game-saving 17. Rd2!, when it’s still a balanced battle after 17…Rd8 18. Nf3 Bg4 19. Qxb2 Bxf3 20. gxf3 Rxd2 21. Qxd2 Bxd2+ 22. Kd2 Rd8.

Instead, on 17. Ke2? Rxd8 18. Qxb2 Na4!! (the move Black had to see when he first offered his queen; White probably expected 18…Rxd2+? 19. Qxd2 Bxd2 20. Nxc6, with an advantage) 19. Qc2 Nc3+ 20. Kf3 (see diagram), the White king is flushed out of the pocket and now Black must find a way to administer the sack.

Ding’s brilliant play here makes for one of the best attacking games of the past two decades: 20. Rd4!! 21. h3 (the threat was 21…g4+ 22. Nxg4 Bxg4 mate, and 21. exd4 Nxd4+ 22. Ke3 Nxc2+ 23. Kd2 Na3 just leaves White a piece down) 21. h3 h5!, and the mating snare is set.

The individual lines border on the unbelievable, but Black’s conviction that the White king cannot escape his swarm of pieces proves fully justified: 23. Kg3 Rd2!! (another cheeky rook move exploiting the knight fork idea) 24. Qb3 Ne4+ 25. Kh4 (Kf4 Rxf2+! 26. Kxe4 Bf5+ 27. Kd5 Rd8+ and mate is just a couple of moves away) Be7+ 26. Kxh5 Kg7!, calmly stepping up to allow Black’s other rook to join the mating party.

Mating motifs abound as Black delivers the finishing blow: 27. Bf4 (Nxc6 Bf5 28. Nb8 Bg6+! 29. Kxg4 f5+ 30. Kf4 Bd6+ 31. Kf3 Rxf2 mate) Bf5 28. Bh6+ Kh7 29. Qxb7 (Nxc6 Bg6+ 30. Kxg4 f5+ 31. Kf4 Bd6+ 32. Kf3 Rxf2 mate) Rxf2 (threatening yet another mate with the Black knight on g3) 30. Bg5 Rh8 31. Nxf7 (Qxc6 Kg8+ 32. Bh6 Ng3 is once again mate) Bg6+! 32. Kxg4 (Ding notes another amazing mating pattern arises on 32. Kh4 Kg8+!! 33. Nxh8 Bxg5+ 34. Kxg4 Ne5 mate!) Ne5+, and Jinshi has seen enough. White resigns ahead of the satisfying conclusion 33. Nxe5 (Kh4 Kg8+ 34. Nxh8 Bxg5 mate) Bf5+ 34. Kh5 Kg7+ 35. Bh6+ Rxh6 mate. Amazing play from start to finish!

(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)

Ding-Ni, Chinese Championship, Xinghua Jiangsu, China, May 2009

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. Nc3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 c5 8. Rb1 O-O 9. Be2 Nc6 10. d5 Ne5 11. Nxe5 Bxe5 12. Rb3 Qd6 13. Qd2 e6 14. f4 Bg7 15. c4 e5 16. f5 gxf5 17. exf5 Bxf5 18. O-O Bg6 19. h4 h5 20. Qg5 e4 21. Bxh5 Rae8 22. Be2 Qe7 23. h5 Bh7 24. Rg3 Qxg5 25. Bxg5 Bd4+ 26. Kh2 Be5 27. Bf6+ Bxg3+ 28. Kxg3 e3 29. Rf4 Bc2 30. Kf3 Kh7 31. g4 Kg8 32. g5 a6 33. h6 Bg6 34. h7+ Bxh7 35. Rh4 Black resigns.

Jinshi-Ding, Chinese Chess League, November 2017

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 O-O 5. Bg5 c5 6. e3 cxd4 7. Qxd4 Nc6 8. Qd3 h6 9. Bh4 d5 10. Rd1 g5 11. Bg3 Ne4 12. Nd2 Nc5 13. Qc2 d4 14. Nf3 e5 15. Nxe5 dxc3 16. Rxd8 cxb2+ 17. Ke2 Rxd8 18. Qxb2 Na4 19. Qc2 Nc3+ 20. Kf3 Rd4 21. h3 h5 22. Bh2 g4+ 23. Kg3 Rd2 24. Qb3 Ne4+ 25. Kh4 Be7+ 26. Kxh5 Kg7 27. Bf4 Bf5 28. Bh6+ Kh7 29. Qxb7 Rxf2 30. Bg5 Rh8 31. Nxf7 Bg6+ 32. Kxg4 Ne5+ White resigns.

• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email at dsands@washingtontimes.com.