When the Chinese Super GM Ding Liren passed Mikhail Tal's historic mark of 95 classical games without a loss in 2018, officials from his home country threw him a party.
Ding's achievement was a landmark in chess - something no-one thought was possible in the modern game against elite opposition.
But more was to come.
Ding went on to add another five games to his streak before it ended at an even 100, a Golden 💯, after 15 months unbeaten.
Fierce opposition
In the course of this incredible run from August 2017 to November 2018, Ding played the World Cup, FIDE Candidates', Norway Chess, the Olympiad, and more.
Ding's opposition was fierce and included some of the biggest names in the game, including Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Vishy Anand, Wesley So, Anish Giri etc.
His rating performance for the streak hit 2811 and catapulted him to the number-four spot in the world rankings.
Ding's even came within a whisker of knocking Carlsen off the number one ranking spot for the first time in seven years.
At the European Club Cup in October 2018, Ding found a nice combination against Carlsen and was in a likely winning position - but the world champion somehow eluded him. Yet Ding's run continued.
Ding even managed to carry on his run after fracturing his hip in a cycling accident on the rest day at Norway Chess.
He had to withdraw from that tournament and was still on crutches - and still unbeaten - for a long time after.
Here, in this course celebrating Ding's achievement, we explore and analyze the 29 wins and 71 draws that made up Ding's Golden 100. Test yourself against the new superpower in chess to see if you can come up with the same combos.
Highlights include:
🔵 Ding's stunning victory over Bai Jinshi in the Chinese Chess League
🔵 His critical victory over Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in the 2018 Candidates
🔵 His win over Jan-Krzysztof Duda, one of the games of the 2018 Olympiad, which won China gold
Ding's golden run eventually came to an end in November 2018 at the Shenzen Masters. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave was the spoiler.
