The 17 undisputed World Champions

1. Wilhelm Steinitz
2. Emanuel Lasker
3. José Raúl Capablanca
4. Alexander Alekhine
5. Max Euwe
6. Mikhail Botvinnik
7. Vasily Smyslov
8. Mikhail Tal
9. Tigran Petrosian
10. Boris Spassky
11. Bobby Fischer
12. Anatoly Karpov
13. Garry Kasparov
14. Vladimir Kramnik
15. Viswanathan Anand
16. Magnus Carlsen
17. Ding Liren

Replay: Nepo – Ding game 1 / Ding – Nepo game 2 / Nepo – Ding game 3 / Nepo – Ding game 4 / Nepo – Ding game 5 / Nepo – Ding game 6 / Nepo – Ding game 7 / Nepo – Ding game 8 / Nepo – Ding game 9 / Nepo – Ding game 10 / Nepo – Ding game 11 / Nepo – Ding game 12 / Nepo – Ding game 13 / Nepo – Ding game 14 / Nepo – Ding tiebreaks

Ding Liren’s way to the World Chess Champion 2023 title

After FIDE’s ban on Sergey Karjakin for 6 months, a replacement for the Russian player at the Candiadates Chess 2022 was needed. By the current regulations, the player to enter the event will be selected by rating – considering the FIDE rating list published on May 1 (something that Anish Giri vigorously protested in an interview during the ongoing Grand Prix in Berlin). The best Chinese chess player started his journey of 28 standard games on March 27th and finished the marathon on April 24th. The Chinese Chess Association organized a 4-player quadruple round-robin in Hangzhou (12 games) (see the report here); a 6-game match against Wei Yi (6 games); and finally a 10-round qualifier to the Asian Games (10 games). Completing 28 games with an impressive score of 20.5 points (13 victories, 15 draws and no loss), Ding Liren finished the quest of 26 games and became eligible to take Karjakin’s place in the Candidates.

In the Candidates event Ding Liren finished second after Nepo, which was achieved by a victory vs Nakamura in the last round. The biggest Chinese Sports channel CCTV-5 broadcasts the FIDE Candidates Chess Tournament 2022 live, supporting their countryman Ding Liren on the road to World Chess Championship Match. More than a million people daily followed Liren’s games from Palacio Santona, Madrid.