An opportunity for Le Quang Liem

VHO - This afternoon, November 14th, in Goa (India), Vietnam's number one chess player, Le Quang Liem, will compete in the 5th round of the FIDE World Cup 2025 against Alexander Donchenko (Germany).

On his way to the 5th round, Quang Liem (Elo 2,729) successively defeated Baadur Jobava (Georgia, Elo 2,573) in the 2nd round, Jeffery Xiong (USA, Elo 2,648) in the 3rd round, and Venkataraman Karthik (India, Elo 2,579) in the 4th round.

Quang Liem is in good form at the tournament.

In rounds 3 and 4, Quang Liem played first but drew in game 1, then brilliantly defeated his opponents playing second in game 2.

This outstanding result allows Vietnam's number one chess player to advance to the Round of 5, featuring the top 16 players, for the first time in his career.

Previously, Quang Liem had participated in the Chess World Cup several times, with his best results being reaching the fourth round in 2013 and 2019.

Quang Liem has a good chance as in round 5 he only faces a lower-ranked opponent, Alexander Donchenko (Elo 2,641), who is currently outside the top 50 in the world.

With his consistent form and the momentum gained from reaching round 5 for the first time, Quang Liem is expected to secure a victory.

However, Vietnam's number one player will have to be very cautious because Donchenko is also in good form.

On his way to the fifth round, Donchenko caused a major upset by eliminating the tournament's fourth seed, Anish Giri (Netherlands), in the third round.

Vietnam's number one chess player is expected to continue to advance further in the tournament.

In their most recent encounter at the 2024 Biel Chess Festival in the Netherlands, the two players drew.

According to experts, Quang Liem has a strong chance of advancing directly to the semi-finals of the 2025 World Cup as he has the highest Elo rating in his bracket.

At the 2025 Chess World Cup, the three best players will qualify for the Candidates Tournament – ​​a competition to select the best player to challenge chess king Gulesh (India) for the world championship title.

Quang Liem has never participated in the Candidates Tournament, and this is a great opportunity for the player born in 1991 to create a new milestone in his career.

Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/the-thao/co-hoi-cho-le-quang-liem-181274.html