Ding Liren, 30, born in Zhejiang in the southeast of China, is the new World Chess Champion, as of April 30, 2023, after beating the Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi, in the world contest held in Astana, Kazakhstan.
Of course it is great news for chess players, but it is also very important for the whole world, because since the beginning of the World Chess Championship in 1886, it is the first time that an Asian citizen has placed the Great Crown, beating Russians. , Americans and Europeans, changing the paradigm, beginning a new era in the ancient game.
Hindus and Persians
Chess originated in India in the 6th century under the name of “Chaturaṅga” which translates as “Armed forces fight”, being the first entertainment to conceive two revolutionary ideas for the time, first of all, different pieces play with different powers and, secondly, victory depends on the fate of one piece… the king… This differentiates it from the game of Checkers and Go. Of course the pieces did not yet have the current names of pawn, knight, bishop and rook.
Around the year 600 it arrived in Persia, where it became part of the education of princes and nobles, changing its name to Shatranj, called the final move as “Shāh Māt!” Let’s remember that the Shāh was the King. A2
When the Ottoman Rashidun Caliphate occupies Persia, they quickly adopt this new game, which in North Africa was called Shaṭerej, in Greece Zatrikion, in Portugal Xadrez and in Spain Acedrex, Axedrez and finally Chess.
In the year 835 Al-Adli, he wrote the first known manual of Chess or Shatrani.
Only in Valencia between the years 1470 and 1490 were the rules that currently govern the game established, regarding the names and movements of each piece.
China
There are indications that chess came to China from India, in the 7th century, under the name of XiangQi (Chinese chess, with different pieces and other regulations), but only played by a few upper class, for that reason the revolution (1966-1976) prohibited it, as a sign of “decadent capitalism”.
Only in the year 2000 the Chinese Chess Association affiliated with the International Chess Federation (FIDE) and the National Sports Committee of China created several academies to develop chess players, the initiative was called “Great Dragon Project”.
Ding Liren
For all this it is evident that Ding Liren, who is now called the Great Dragon, is not the result of chance, but is an exponent of the Project created by the Chinese School of Chess.
At present, more than a thousand children compete in Nanking in the annual contest that will qualify the best, to obtain a place in the Beijing High Performance Center, from which the new world champion emerged.
