CHENNAI: During China's Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s, chess was seen as a 'decadence' of the West. The result was an official ban on the game. Post the Revolution, a meeting in Kuala Lumpur saw a course correction.
Titled the 'Big Dragon Project', the 1974 meeting had Asian officials wanting to spread the game across the continent. Unsurprisingly, China, given its numbers, was selected as Ground Zero for chess' untapped potential in the continent.
A few years after the project came to life, a Chinese team made heads turn at the 1978 Olympiad. In the first round, they beat a strong Iceland team 3-1. One of the games in the match saw Guomundur Sigurjonsson lose to the unheralded Qi Jingxuan. It prompted Jan Hein Donner, a member of the Dutch team, to quip: "Tell me, Grandmaster," he had reportedly asked according to chess.com. "How can a western European GM lose to a Chinaman."
In the eighth round, Donner lost to Liu Wenzhe. In a game since labelled as the 'Chinese Immortal', Donner resigned but he still managed a repartee. "Now 800 million Chinese people will know my name."
These days, chess, like all games, may have a common language but both world champions in the Classical format are native Chinese speakers. Ju Wenjun in the women's section who has held the title since 2018. In 2023, the apogee of the Red Dragon Project was realised after Ding Liren beat Ian Nepomniachtchi in an emotionally-charged, bum-clenching Rapid playoff after the best-of-14 Classical match-up was tied 7-7.
More than a billion Chinese had a new world champion to obsess over. At some level, the Murakami-reading, mathematics-liking Liren was more destined for a world away from sport thanks to a uniquely Asian construct; parents wanting their children to pursue an orthodox profession. Liren wanted to concentrate on chess but his father wanted him to at least complete his education. So he went to Peking University to study law.
All the while, he continued to make heads turn with his moves on the chess board. Gradually, he owned all and sundry. After the man from Wenzhou — aptly titled 'the city of chess' — became national champion, he played a key role in China winning gold at the 2014 Olympiad. This success, though, wasn't a surprise. He had already shown immense promise in age-group events; in 2012, he finished third at the junior worlds.
Even as Magnus Carlsen's reign continued unabated, Liren kept putting himself in contention — 100 unbeaten Classical games, a win after taking down Carlsen at the prestigious Sinquefield Cup and multiple visits to the Candidates.
Ironically, that final push to qualify for the World Championship came after Carlsen abdicated his throne. As a result, the Chinese, recognised for his strategy on the board, who had finished second in the 2022 edition of the Candidates, would face off against Nepomniachtchi in 2023.
In a truly wild final, the former prevailed in tie-breaks after scores were level after the end of 14 games. It catapulted him into the stratosphere. It probably also broke him. He has had trouble sleeping post that victory. He has had to rely on pills. He has spoken about his mental health. Carlsen wondered whether that title 'broke him'. In an interview to this daily, Liren said that he didn't want to be known as the weakest champion. It gave a rare glimpse into the mind of a vulnerable champion, somebody who wasn't scared to reveal what he was going through.
Whenever Liren has granted interviews this year, he has addressed it. While speaking to a YouTube channel (TakeTakeTake) a few weeks ago, he admitted he was worried about losing very badly. Results have not been his friend. He hasn't won a game of Classical chess since January (he did beat Gukesh and enjoys an unbeaten record against the Indian). These are the reasons why the Indian teen has been listed as the favourite.
But the likes of Viswanathan Anand and Richard Rapport (who was one of Liren's seconds at last year's final) aren't buying that.
"A World Championship match is different," Rapport had told this daily in September. "You cannot compare. I can tell from my experience. I play some events, I try, of course, but it's more like 'you have to be a professional'. You go to work, you get paid and so on. These other events, you really care. For a chess player, whoever you are, a World Championship match is the ultimate motivator because it's a childhood dream for most of us. To be able to play it is one thing. But to be able to defend it potentially is another thing. Overall, I think Ding would be in a much different shape than he has been in for a long time. It will not be a walk in the park."
That's the one thing Liren has that Gukesh has never experienced before. The grind of a 14-match final in 17 days. It's unlike any other the sport has to offer. "He's (Liren) a better player than his recent form," Anand had told this daily before the Global Chess League. "So I would expect that Gukesh is still very careful. He's playing a very experienced and wise player and you never know when they are going to kick up a notch."
That really is the crux of this final. If form and recent history is anything to go by, Liren starts with a net negative. But history is replete with one of sport's fundamental truisms. Never ever underestimate the heart of a champion.