For the first time, a Chinese became a world chess champion by defeating a Russian (video)

Ding Liren from China defeated Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi and became the first holder of the chess crown from China.

The fight for the title of world champion took place on Sunday, April 30 in Astana. The total score in the match is 7:7, the tie-break (special shortened game) is 2.5:1.5 in favor of Liren.

The prize fund of the tournament was 2 million euros. The winner gets 60% of the prize money, the runner-up gets 40%.

In July last year, Ian Nepomniachtchi became the winner of the Candidates Tournament in Madrid and won the right to play again with the reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen in 2023. However, the Norwegian announced his refusal to play the match for the world crown, so the Russian fought Ding Liren in the title fight.

Dmitry Peskov declaredthat we should congratulate the Chinese chess player Ding Liren on his victory – he turned out to be stronger than the Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi in this fight:

Today won the representative of China. Let’s congratulate him. He was stronger. This is chess. Our grandmasters will continue to work. We have very strong positions in world chess. Chess in Russia is rapidly developing. We have a brilliant galaxy of grandmasters.

The winner of the tournament was determined in a tie-break, during which the grandmasters played four games. The last one ended on the 68th move. The score in the tie-break is 2.5–1.5 in favor of the Chinese chess player. On April 29, Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren drew in the last game of the match with classical time control. After 14 games the score was equal – 7:7.