Jonathan started following professional chess during college. At some point, he realised that many interesting players don't get to fully express themselves in the media. He started doing interviews to highlight those players and help them share their thoughts, stories and personalities. Find his work <a href="https://substack.com/@underpromoted">on Substack</a>.
3/13/2026 – In early March, Jonathan Zhi had the chance to do a written interview with Ding Liren. His answers are translated from Chinese - the original answers are available here. The questions draw heavily from previous interviews, articles, podcasts and TV shows that Ding has given. Jonathan started following professional chess during college. At some point, he realised that many interesting players don't get to fully express themselves in the media. He started doing interviews to highlight those players and help them share their thoughts, stories and personalities. | Photo: Amruta Mokal / ChessBase India
In this course, you will learn the foundations and key ideas of the Vienna Game and discover a variety of systems that make you extremely difficult to prepare for.
Tata Steel 2026 with analyses by Bluebaum, Giri, L'Ami, Woodward and many more. Opening videos by Kasimdzhanov, Marin and Zwirs. 10 exciting opening articles with new repertoire ideas and much more.
In this course, Dutch Grandmaster Jan Werle presents a modern and practical repertoire in the French Advance Variation, focusing on the critical line 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3.
One of the major battlegrounds of the Queen’s Gambit Declined is the Catalan, and against it Zwirs chose an ambitious strategy: accept the pawn and hold onto it with …c6 and …b5, aiming for an unbalanced fight from the very start.
In this course, you will learn the foundations and key ideas of the Vienna Game and discover a variety of systems that make you extremely difficult to prepare for.
Tata Steel 2026 with analyses by Bluebaum, Giri, L'Ami, Woodward and many more. Opening videos by Kasimdzhanov, Marin and Zwirs. 10 exciting opening articles with new repertoire ideas and much more.
In this course, Dutch Grandmaster Jan Werle presents a modern and practical repertoire in the French Advance Variation, focusing on the critical line 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3.
One of the major battlegrounds of the Queen’s Gambit Declined is the Catalan, and against it Zwirs chose an ambitious strategy: accept the pawn and hold onto it with …c6 and …b5, aiming for an unbalanced fight from the very start.
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