The first Chinese Chess Championship kicked off in Chengdu today. World chess champion Ding Liren made his first comeback after winning the championship for the first time, and he said after the opening ceremony: "Let's play a game that we are satisfied with." Hopefully 2024 is off to a good start. ”
In 2023, Chinese chess players won a total of 9 World Series titles. Ding Liren became the 17th world champion in the history of chess, realizing the strategic task of "four moves" in Chinese chess. Ju Wenjun successfully defended the women's individual world championship, becoming the third Chinese chess player after Xie Jun and Hou Yifan to win the women's individual world championship four times. The Chinese team won a total of 3 gold medals at the Hangzhou Asian Games, the Chinese women's team composed of Hou Yifan, Tan Zhongyi, Zhu Jiner and Zhai Mo won the women's team gold medal, Zhu Jiner won the women's individual gold medal, and Wei Yi won the men's individual gold medal.
The first China Chess Championship is the first chess tournament in Chengdu and the first major domestic tournament in 2024. The top five domestic ratings Ding Liren, Wei Yi, Yu Yangyi, Wang Hao, and Bu Xiangzhi will all appear. After winning the World Chess Championship last year, Ding Liren took a break for more than half a year due to physical reasons, and this time he came to Chengdu for the first comeback. Ding Liren, who entered the competition directly, said, "I still have some expectations for the competition. Ding Liren, who came to Chengdu for the second time, felt good about Chengdu, "It is very lively, I saw the downstairs from the window last night, it was still very lively, and the people were full of voices." After all, he has just made a comeback, and Ding Liren is a little conservative when talking about the goal of the competition, hoping to get off to a good start in 2024 and fight for the first round.
Tian Hongwei, director of the Chess Department of the Chess and Card Sports Management Center of the General Administration of Sports of the People's Republic of China, also praised the strong chess and card culture in Chengdu, the "chess city", "Chengdu has successively hosted many high-standard and high-quality events such as the World Women's Chess Team Championship, the FIDE Women's Grand Prix, and the Asian Individual Chess Championship. In 2022, Xu Xiangyu, Li Di and two other chess players won the World Team Championship on behalf of China, and in 2023, Li Di won the National Individual Championship Group A. She said that this competition fully reflects Chengdu's strong support for the cause of chess, and hopes that Chengdu will contribute more to the construction of a sports power and the construction of a cultural power.
Chengdu Daily Jinguan News Reporter Chen Hao Photography/Video Chen Hao Responsible Editor He Qitie