Ding Liren clinched the 2019 Sinquefield Cup as the first player since 2007 to beat Magnus Carlsen in a playoff. The Chinese GM earned $82,500 and 16.5 Grand Chess Tour points as he won the two blitz games.Ding was the underdog; theres no denying that.For starters, Carlsen hadnt lost a single playoff since his Candidates match with Levon Aronianin 2007. Since then he played 10 tiebreaks, and won all 10.Less that two years ago, Carlsen had crushedDing in a rapid and blitz match, also in St. Louis. Back then, one of the reasons for his big loss was the Chinese player having too much respect for his opponent.

”I got to say that he was a lot better than I was today so he won absolutely deservedly.”—Magnus Carlsen

Fast forward 21 months, and look at the progress Ding has made. Now the world number-three, hot on the heels of number-two Fabiano Caruana(whom he beat at the Sinquefield Cup), he might have gotten all the confidence he needed after holding Carlsen to a draw in their l game—with splendid defense.