Ding Liren commented on his team’s victory over Team Germany at the Chess Olympiad 2026. Ding says that his team earned a significant number of tiebreak points, and notes Vincent Keymer’s mistake in their game. The 17th World Champion spoke about it in an interview with Lichess.

Ding Liren

Ding Liren

17th World Champion

“It feels great! We won 3 to 1, not 2.5 to 1.5. It’s a team effect. This earned us a lot of tiebreak points, which will be helpful in the future.

And my game against Vincent Keymer, I think it was a very high-quality game until the very end. He could play with his Rook to stop my passing Pawn. This could be an easy draw for him. But he misplayed by pushing his Pawn instead.”

The Chess Olympiad 2026 takes place from September 16 to 27 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The China team is in second place with 11 points and 138 TB points after 6 days of the event.

Credit: Michal Walusza / FIDE