Ding Liren, a diffident chess champ, faces difficult test in Norway

“My aim is not to finish in last place.”

In a club that has admitted only 17 officially recognized members over the past 150 years or so, one would think that being the world chess champion would come with a little bit of justified hubris. But reigning Chinese world champion Ding Liren, who must defend the title he won in 2023 by the end of the year against young Indian phenom GM Dommaraju Gukesh, is proving an exception to the rule.

No one doubts Ding’s talent, but his health issues, relative inactivity and shaky confidence levels since capturing the crown have raised serious doubts about his stamina and playing strength as he prepares for the match.

In an all-too-candid interview last week with the Indian Express, Ding frankly admitted to his health problems and his sub-par recent play, noting, “I can say that I have recovered from the illness, but still, my strength is not back to my best version.”

The Chinese star faces perhaps his biggest stress test ahead of the title match, competing in an all-world field at the current 12th Norway Chess invitational, a field that includes former world champ Magnus Carlsen (still the planet’s top-rated player) and American stars GMs Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana.

Carlsen, who abdicated the throne after a decade of dominance last year, expressed concern recently that his successor was “permanently broken.”

Ding in the interview did not exactly disagree, setting the expectations bar low and joking, “I need to show at least the second-best version of my chess” at the Norway event to quiet questions about his ability to hold on to the crown.

Ding, playing White, drew Carlsen in their Round 1 game Monday in a bloodless 14 moves. We’ll have a full rundown of how he’s doing and how the tournament is playing out in upcoming columns.

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The United Arab Emirates city of Sharjah hosted one of the year’s strongest Swiss events earlier this month, with Iranian GM Bardiya Daneshvar the surprise winner on tiebreaks over a trio of grandmasters that included American star GM Sam Shankland.

There w​ere some excellent battles on the lower boards, including a fine win by 12-year-old Turkish wunderkind and GM-designate Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, who just broke the ratings record for a player under 13 held for 35 years by Hungarian superstar Judit Polgar. The young Turk posted a respectable even score in the event, which included a very nice attacking win over 17-year-old Indian GM Mittal Aditya from the Black side of a Caro-Kann.

With 6…f6!? and 8… Nh6, Erdogmus shows he’s willing to sail in uncharted paths, and by 11. Bxc6+ Qxc6 (bxc6 12. Nxf5 Bxf5 13. exf6 bxc6 14. Nd2 Bg7 was also playable) 12. Nxf5 (Nxc6 Nxg3 13. hxg3 bxc6. 14. Be3 Bg7, and Black’s bishop pair likely gives him a small edge) Bxf5 13. 0-0 h5, Black’s kingside attack is already underway while White still is developing his forces.

Black is happy to let his kingside pawns fall, as lines to the White king open up for his superbly placed pieces. The White fortress collapses on 22. Bxf6 Rg4 23. Qxh5 Bxf4! 24. Bd4  (Rxf4 Rxg2+ 25. Kh1 Bg6 26. Qh4 Rxd2) R4g5! 25. Qe2 Bh3, and every Black piece is bearing down on the enemy king.

It’s over on 26. Nf1 (Kf1 Rxg2 27. Rxg2 Rxg2 28. Qf3 Rxd2+) Bxg2 27. Rxg2 Qh3! (Rxg2+ was also good enough to win, but Erdogmus wants the mate) 28. Rxg5 Rxg5+ 29. Kf2 Qh4+ 30. Ng3 (Kf3 Rg3+ 31. Kf2 Re3+ 32. Ng3 Bxg3+ 33. Kxe3 Bf4+ 34. Kd3 [Kf3 Qg3 mate] Qh7+ and wins) Bxg3+ 31. Ke3 (White has material equality if only his king can escape, but Black has all the exits covered) Bf4+ 32. Kd3 Qh7+, and White resigned as 33. Qe4 Qxe4 is mate.

UAE GM A.R. Saleh Salem delighted the local fans with a brilliant combinational win over Russian-born Slovenian GM Vladimir Fedoseev as both players pursued all-out mating attacks in a rare King’s Indian sideline.

Already with 3. h4!? (a beginner’s kind of move, but the best silicon engines also have a strong partiality for these early wing-pawn sallies), the aggressive tenor of the game is set: Fedoseev looks to blow up the Black kingside while Salem seeks a counterattack to force the White king to declare his own intentions.

In such games, the initiative can be worth a piece, and Black makes a bold bid to control the play with 18. Ng3 Ne5!? (Bd4 19. Nxh5 Qg6 is unclear, but Black isn’t sitting around waiting to be mated) 19. fxe5 Bxe5 20. Qg2 (Nge2? Qf7!, with devastating threats down the f-file) Rb8 21. Nxh5 Qg6 22. Be3 d5 23. 0-0-0 (the king goes to the queenside and Black’s attack follows) d4, and now White misses a strong shot with 24. Qh3!; e.g. 24…dxe3 25. Nf6+ Bxf6 26. gxf6 Kh8 27. Rdg1 Qf7 28. Rg7 and wins.

Two moves later, 26. Qh3? (see diagram; 26. Nf6+! Bxf6 27. gxf6 Qxg2 28. Rxg2+ Kf7 29. e5 Rg8 30. Rhg1 Bg6 31. Bxc5 and Black is fighting to save a draw) sets in motion the game’s wild ending: 26…Rxb3!! (threatening mate on b1) 27. axb3 Ra8! (threatening mate on a1), and now only 28. Nf6+ keeps the fight going — 28…Bxf6 29. Qxe6+ Qf7 30. gxf6+ Kh8 31. Rg8+ Qxg8 32. Qxg8+ Kxd8 33. Kd1 Bxe4 34. Rg1+ Bg6 35. Bxc5 Ra2, with a small edge to Black.

White’s 28. Kd1?, hoping to scuttle away from checkmate, meets with a spectacular refutation: 28…Qxh5+! 29. Qxh5 Ra1+ 30. Bc1 Rxc1+!!, and Fedoseev resigns. Despite his vast material edge, he can’t stop 31. Kxc1 Bf4+ 32. Kd1 c2+ 33. Ke1 c1=Q+ 34. Qd1 (Kf2 Qe3+ 35. Kg2 Qg3 mate) Qe3+ 35. Qe2 Qxe2 mate.

Marvelous tactical vision from Salem!

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

Aditya-Erdogmus, 7th Sharjah Masters, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, May 2024

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. Nf3 cxd4 5. Qxd4 Nc6 6. Qf4 f6 7. Qg3 g5 8. Bb5 Nh6 9. Nd4 Qb6 10. c3 Nf5 11. Bxc6+ Qxc6 12. Nxf5 Bxf5 13. O-O h5 14. exf6 exf6  15. h4 gxh4 16. Qxh4 O-O-O 17. Be3 Rg8 18. Bd4 Bd6 19. Nd2 Rg6 20. f4 Rdg8 21. Rf2 Qd7 22. Bxf6 Rg4 23. Qxh5 Bxf4 24. Bd4 R4g5 25. Qe2 Bh3 26. Nf1 Bxg2 27. Rxg2 Qh3 28. Rxg5 Rxg5+ 29. Kf2 Qh4+ 30. Ng3 Bxg3+ 31. Ke3 Bf4+ 32. Kd3 Qh7+ White resigns.

Fedoseev-Salem, 7th Sharjah Masters, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, May 2024

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. h4 d6 4. Nc3 Nbd7 5. Qc2 c5 6. d5 a6 7. e4 b5 8. cxb5 Bg7 9. bxa6 O-O 10. h5 Nxh5 11. g4 Nhf6 12. g5 Nh5 13. Be2 Bxa6 14. Bxh5 gxh5 15. f4 e6 16. Nge2 Qe8 17. dxe6 fxe6 18. Ng3 Ne5 19. fxe5 Bxe5 20. Qg2 Rb8 21. Nxh5 Qg6 22. Be3 d5 23. O-O-O d4 24. Rdg1 dxc3 25. b3 Bd3 26. Qh3 Rxb3 27. axb3 Ra8 28. Kd1 Qxh5+ 29. Qxh5 Ra1+ 30. Bc1 Rxc1+ White resigns.

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