Former World Champion Ding Liren shared how Magnus Carlsen invited him to a training camp after Ding’s successful performance at Tata Steel Chess 2016. Liren talks about how Magnus solved puzzles faster than everyone else, and about playing Blitz games with Carlsen.

Ding Liren

Ding Liren

17th World Champion

“In 2016, Magnus and I played in Wijk aan Zee. He won that tournament, of course. For me, that tournament was also a big success — I shared second place. After that, he invited me to his training camp.

We worked for about a week. I just watched how Carlsen trains. His trainer showed some puzzles, and Magnus solved them instantly, before we even had time to think about the answer…

I also played a lot of Blitz games with him. But the result was bad for me — only draws and losses, no wins!”

The 17th World Champion Ding Liren shared second place with American GM Fabiano Caruana at Tata Steel Chess 2016, scoring 8 points. Ding’s Classical rating (2734) became inactive in January 2026, following FIDE’s monthly rating update. His last official Classical game was played at the World Championship Match 2024.

Credit: Lennart Ootes