Ding Liren showed the ambition in his heart with a matching display on the board to become the 17th World chess champion. The 30-year-old is the first king of 64 squares from China. He defeated Ian Nepomniachtchi in a rapid tiebreak in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Sunday.
Russian Nepo, who signed an anti-war letter and played under the FIDE flag in this match, suffered his second defeat in the World matchplay. He had lost to Magnus Carlsen two years ago in Dubai.