Chinese Ding Liren wins World Chess Championship in Astana

Chinese grandmaster Ding Liren has been pronounced the 17th world chess champion in Astana after a tiebreak, the Kazakhstan Chess Federation (KCF) reported. According to experts, the rapid chess match was very intense.

«The first three match games ended in a tie. In the fourth one, Ding showed that he was quite serious about his intention to win and fought back, although he didn’t start out so well. As a result, the match finished with a score of 9.5:8.5. Congratulations to the winner!» the KCF said in a statement.

Om April 27, the final 13th match game for the title of world chess champion 2023 began between Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi (controlling the white figures) and Chinese Ding Liren.

The tournament is being held at the St. Regis Hotel in the capital city of Astana, from April 7 to May 1. Nepomniachtchi and Liren were two major contenders for the title of World Chess Champion.

The world chess championship match for first place in Astana included 14 sets with a time control of 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, then 60 minutes for the next 20 moves and then 15 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30-second increment per move from move 61st. If neither player has won within the allotted time or the number of moves they would play a rapid chess game.

According to Timur Turlov, CEO of Freedom Holding Corp. and President of the KCF, it is a big honor for Kazakhstan to host FIDE World Chess Championship 2023. He believes that the championship in Astana has been organized quite well. It is not inferior to previous tournaments by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) and will definitely improve cooperation with FIDE for future international events.

Freedom Holding Corp. is the general partner of the event with a prize fund of €2 million.