[somenameforme]

It was also extremely odd to me that there was no Chinese press there. Ding's English is not excellent, and to not be able to catch his first moments in his native tongue seems to have been a major failing of the Chinese press.

[ginnungagap]

Ding was offered a translator but insisted on speaking English himself apparently!

"He said he didn’t need a translator since, “I feel very comfortable now,” " from https://chess24.com/en/read/news/ding-liren-passes-acid-test...

[htag]

I've seen international competitions where the winner is interviewed by a reporter from their home country in their native language. It can often be a nice touch, and is very different from using a translator to speak to English speaking reports.

[kelipso]

Chess isn't really big in China. Maybe will get more popular with Ding now but I'm not holding my breath.

[mark_l_watson]

Chess is huge in China. The women’s world champion and also number two are both Chinese.

You are right that Chess is not as popular as Go in China.

[hgsgm]

Norway is a small country (1/300th the population of China) with Magnus Carlson. Chess could be of interest to a small fraction of China and still produce champions.

[kelipso]

Chess is not nearly as popular as Chinese chess (xiangqi) either.