In a recent interview given to The Indian Express, Ding Liren reflected on his latest, subpar performances, noting that he hoped “not to finish in last place” at the Norway Chess tournament in Stavanger. After suffering four consecutive classical losses in the event, the world champion stands in clear last place with 2½ points to his name, a whopping 4 points behind fifth-placed Fabiano Caruana.
In round 6, it was Magnus Carlsen who got the better of Ding, as the Chinese GM incredibly blundered a mate-in-two in a position that engines evaluated as balanced. Carlsen had referred to Ding’s form in a recent podcast, mentioning that he hoped for his colleague not to be “permanently broken”.
Ding has already talked about the mental health issues he had to deal with after beating Ian Nepomniachtchi in the 2023 match for the World Championship. As shared by Tarjei J. Svensen on X, Ding provided more details about his struggles in a recent interview given to Die Tageszeitung:
I was exhausted, but still couldn’t sleep very well. That led to depression. I was treated in a clinic twice. Fortunately, things are slowly getting better. Chess is mentally exhausting.
A few of Ding’s colleagues in Norway, including Hikaru Nakamura, have shared their concern about Ding’s form and their desire for him to recover from this low point in his career.
Ding Liren | Photo: Stev Bonhage
As per the race for first place in Stavanger, Carlsen’s classical win allowed him to take the sole lead in the standings. The local hero has a 1-point lead over Nakamura, who was defeated by Caruana in Armageddon on Sunday. Standing in third place is R Praggnanandhaa, who also lost in round-6’s rapid tiebreaker, against Alireza Firouzja.
Monday’s seventh round will see the clash between Nakamura and Carlsen, while Ding will try to stop the bleeding in his game with black against Pragg.
On Sunday, Fabiano Caruana defeated Hikaru Nakamura with the black pieces in Armageddon | Photo: Stev Bonhage
Analysis by André Schulz
| Rk | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts |
| 1 | Magnus Carlsen | NOR | 2830 | 12 |
| 2 | Hikaru Nakamura | USA | 2794 | 11 |
| 3 | R Praggnanandhaa | IND | 2747 | 9.5 |
| 4 | Alireza Firouzja | FRA | 2737 | 8 |
| 5 | Fabiano Caruana | USA | 2805 | 6.5 |
| 6 | Ding Liren | CHN | 2762 | 2.5 |
