Maintaining his advantage, Le Quang Liem won a ticket to round 4 of the 2025 Chess World Cup

Vietnam's No. 1 chess player Le Quang Liem (elo 2,729) won the right to enter the 4th round of the 2025 Chess World Cup in India after the final victory over player Jeffery Xiong (USA).

Le Quang Liem maintains his form

In the second leg of the third round of the World Chess Cup taking place today (November 8), Le Quang Liem, holding the white pieces, will play a rematch with American player Jeffery Xiong (elo 2,648). Previously, Vietnam's number 1 player defeated this opponent in the first leg to gain an advantage before entering the second leg.

Le Quang Liem had an additional advantage when he held the white pieces (went first) in the second leg. Thanks to that advantage, the number 1 Vietnamese player proactively chose the Catalan Opening, which is Le Quang Liem's ​​forte.

Le Quang Liem (left) in a draw against Jeffery Xiong in the second leg of round 3 of the 2025 Chess World Cup

PHOTO: FIDE

With the above opening, Le Quang Liem maintained a solid defensive position while creating offensive pressure, making his opponent not dare to take risks. Therefore, in a must-win situation, Jeffery Xiong could not penetrate Le Quang Liem's ​​tight defense.

After 40 moves of intellectual competition but unable to dominate the game against Le Quang Liem and at the same time being deadlocked in the endgame, Jeffery Xiong had to accept a draw with the number 1 player in Vietnam. With this result, Le Quang Liem won the final with a score of 1.5 - 0.5, thereby winning a ticket to round 4 of the 2025 Chess World Cup.

2025 Chess World Cup enters exciting phase

PHOTO: FIDE

Le Quang Liem's ​​opponent in the 4th round of the 2025 Chess World Cup is the winner of the match between Daniel Deac Bogdan (Romania, elo 2,655) and Karthik Venkataraman (India, elo 2,579). Winning a ticket to the 4th round also helps Le Quang Liem "pocket" at least 17,000 USD (about 440 million VND).

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/giu-vung-uu-the-le-quang-liem-doat-ve-vao-vong-4-world-cup-co-vua-2025-185251108192813128.htm