Chess ace Ding reminds us, heroes are vulnerable humans

From Wenzhou in Zhejiang province come many brilliant things.

- Rohit Brijnath

Camellias, paper-making, a love for mathematics and a chess genius. Ding Liren, 31, is by all accounts polite, unassuming and pleasant. But we need to affix another adjective to him. Brave.

Because despite the stigma surrounding mental health, he's often articulated his emotional struggle.

During the 2023 world championship, Ding had said: “I feel a bit depressed… like there was something wrong with my mind.” In June 2024, by which time he was world champion, he told an Indian journalist, “Now after each loss… I’m very sad, very upset.” This week he told a Straits Times colleague, “I feel okay, neither good nor bad. I’m not at my lowest and have walked out of the darkness from the last 11/2 years”.

This place of emotional unsteadiness is unsurprising and yet unknown, for the insides of the great sportsperson are hidden. But grandmaster Kevin Goh, CEO of the Singapore Chess Federation, who knows Ding a little, has a theory.

He speculates that “when Ding won the title, it took a lot out of him. After becoming world champion, perhaps he put pressure on himself that he should become a worthy champion and dominate every tournament he played. That didn’t turn out to be the case and the criticisms started coming and maybe these comments affected him because he’s a sensitive fellow.”