World Chess Championship 2024: How did Ding Liren qualify for the final vs D Gukesh?

Ding Liren secured his berth in the final of the World Chess Championship 2024 after finishing as the winner last year when the tournament took place in Astana, Kazakhstan. The Chinese star is now set to lock horns with India’s D Gukesh in the upcoming final to be held from November 25 at the well-known Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore.

Last year, Liren had luck going his way after Magnus Carlsen did not take part in the final and chose not to defend his title. Hence, Liren, who did not play in the Candidates final last year, was selected to lock horns with Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia. Liren was ranked No. 3 in the world back then.

Liren also became the first Chinese man and the fourth from his country after Xie Jun, Zhu Chen, Xu Yuhua, Hou Yifan, Tan Zhongyi, and Ju Wenjun to win the world chess championship.

Liren has a challenging task ahead of him as he gets set to face Gukesh, who is looking to become the youngest world champion. Magnus Carlsen and Gary Kasparov became the champions at the age of 22.

---

How did Ding Liren perform in the World Chess Championship 2024 final?

Despite not playing in the Candidates final last year, FIDE chose him as a finalist against Nepomniachtchi on the virtue of playing the final in 2022. He made a steady start as the first two games ended in draws. Nepomniachtchi made the first move, winning the second game and putting pressure on Liren.

But Liren showed nerves of steel to make it 7-7. After the scores were locked at 7-7, it needed a tie-breaker to separate the duo. After the first three games ended in draws, Liren won the fourth game to have the last laugh. He will now look to win back-to-back world championship titles in the match against Gukesh.