The proud journey of Le Quang Liem

VHO - Le Quang Liem could not pass the 5th round of the FIDE World Cup 2025, but what the number 1 Vietnamese chess player did at this year's tournament was very impressive and proud.

Quang Liem (Elo 2,729) attended the 2025 World Cup thanks to his good ranking on the FIDE rankings. He was seeded number 13 out of 206 players participating in the tournament.

Quang Liem lost blitz chess to Donchenko in round 5

The 1991-born player was exempted from the first round. He then won with the same score of 1.5 - 0.5 against Baadur Jobava (Georgia, Elo 2,573) in the second round, Jeffery Xiong (USA, Elo 2,649) in the third round and Venkataraman Karthik (India, Elo 2,579) in the fourth round.

These victories helped Quang Liem reach the 5th round of the World Cup for the first time in his career. Previously, his best achievement and that of Vietnamese chess in this arena was reaching the 4th round in 2013 and 2019.

In round 5, Quang Liem had dramatic and exciting matches against Alexander Donchenko (Germany, Elo 2,641).

The two players tied 2-2 after 2 standard games, then continued to draw in 4 rapid tie-break games. In the end, Quang Liem lost in the blitz tie-break game, thereby stopping his progress in the tournament.

Quang Liem stopped at round 5, leaving the tournament with a prize of 25,000 USD. This is also the best achievement of Vietnam's number 1 chess player compared to all the previous World Cups he attended.

Quang Liem has set a new milestone in his career at the 2025 World Cup.

Failure to reach the quarter-finals did not overshadow the impressive form that Quang Liem showed throughout the tournament, affirming that he is still the leading face of Asian chess and Vietnam's biggest hope on the international stage.

More importantly, this journey continues to consolidate Quang Liem's ​​position on the world chess map. Not only does he maintain a high ranking, he also shows maturity in tactical thinking and competitive spirit against top players.

In the context of Vietnamese chess developing strongly, the 34-year-old player's achievements have special significance, inspiring the younger generation of players and helping Vietnam maintain its image as a country with significant chess potential in the international arena.

The journey at the 2025 World Cup has ended, but what Le Quang Liem has brought is pride, inspiration and affirmation of class.

The Ho Chi Minh City player played with all his passion, with his talent that has been proven for nearly 2 decades and with his desire to take Vietnamese chess further. That is the most precious thing.

Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/the-thao/hanh-trinh-dang-tu-hao-cua-le-quang-liem-181904.html