A new world champion

Today showed that being able to spring back from hardship is necessary for a champion's mindset.

I was hoping that I would get to post this week about my chosen player winning the Chess World Championship Title. And guess what! I got my wish!

Ding Liren has made me a happy chess fan today. Although I predicted that his ability to bounce back would be important for this match. I doubted his ability to come back after freezing mid-match and blundering.

The thing I’m looking forward to now is that the world champion determines chess trends. Ding has played exciting chess, that is he’s played in such a way that people will feel like opening and middle-game play is the way to get a title. While Magnus Carlsen was very accurate in his endgame grinds I wouldn’t watch a game to see exciting chess. I would watch to see a monster grind down everyone.

Ding’s got a different style of play and to bring it to the top stage and play probably one of the most drama filled events I’ve seen where players were both playing games that made me want to get at the board despite my recent performances being terrible.

That’s what I want out of a champion. Inspiration and this match has been a month of spectacle that’s had me more engaged in this story than any other for a long time. Congratulations Ding.