I am very concerned for Ding Liren. He is not the same player he used to be, not even close. He seems to lack self confidence, feel for positions, and sharpness, etc. This is probably the worst decline of any reigning World Champion in history,” she tweeted. “He still has time to turn things around before his match with Gukesh. But this is a five alarm emergency! He needs to put together a team that can help him fix his mental, emotional, and self confidence problems immediately before it is too late. He is one of the nicest chess players and the fans deserve a good match!”
While he was playing against Pragg, members from the fraternity rallied around Ding, who has endured a wretched run of form since becoming world champion last year.
Anna Muzychuk, who currently leads the women’s Norway Chess event, made it a point to mention Ding during a visit to the confessional booth during her own game on Monday. She then also spoke extensively about the challenges of being a chess player in interviews after her game.
“I’d like to support Ding, because we chess players from time to time all go through difficult periods. Unfortunately, this time, Ding’s going through this. I wish to support him and wish he comes back to his best chess because I believe it’s the best to compete when everybody is on their best to determine the winner. I remember being in similar situations and other players came to support me and it was precious. Let’s do the same for Ding,”