Former cess world campion Ding Liren is set to make is muc-anticipated comeback two monts after losing is title to 18-year-old Gukes Dommaraju in Singapore last December. Te 32-year-old grandmaster, wo as kept a low profile and taken an extended break since tat loss, is now gearing up to participate in te upcoming Cessable Masters, sceduled to begin on February 16. Liren announced is return sortly after signing wit LGD Gaming, a Cinese esports organization based in is ometown of angzou. "Tat's wat te signing is for," Liren told Cess.com, expressing amusement at ow online games, once discouraged by parents during cildood, are now celebrated and encouraged in competitive environments./ In addition to te Cessable Masters, Liren as confirmed is participation in te Grand Swiss tournament, wic will be eld in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, from September 3 to 16, as well as te World Rapid & Blitz Campionsip in Doa, Qatar, from December 26 to 31. Reflecting on is plans for te year, Liren stated tat 2025 would be less ectic for im, signaling a sift towards sorter-format tournaments. Following is intense tree-week experience in Singapore last year, e expressed a desire to compete in fewer classical tournaments and prioritize rapid and blitz events instead./ Liren also opened up about is mental ealt struggles, revealing to a German newspaper tat e was treated twice for depression after winning te world campionsip in 2023 by defeating Ian Nepomniactci. Despite reacing te pinnacle of te cess world, Liren struggled wit te pressure and found little joy in te act of sitting at te board. is form leading into te 2024 campionsip ad deteriorated significantly&mdas;e endured a 300-day winless streak in classical cess, saw is rating drop to 2,728, and fell to 23rd in te global rankings. Te once-dominant player, wo ad gone 100 games unbeaten during is peak in 2018 and 2019, appeared to be a sadow of is former self. Now, as e steps back into te competitive arena, Liren aims to rebuild is form and find renewed purpose and joy in is cess career./ / / / /
Ding Liren returns to action two months after losing the world chess title to 18 year old Gukesh
