Le Quang Liem (right) won the Leon Masters for the first time. (Photo: FIDE)
This is the first time Le Quang Liem has participated in the Leon Masters (Spain), coinciding with the time when he was supposed to defend his title at the Biel Grandmasters Chess Festival in Switzerland. Vietnam's No. 1 chess player has won the championship in Biel three times in a row but decided to withdraw from this year's tournament for personal reasons.
Quang Liem's opponent in the Leon Masters 2025 final is Anand Viswanathan, who turns 55 this year. This is the first Asian player to win the No. 1 position in the world chess world. After a 6-year period of dominance (from 2007 to 2013), the Indian chess master had to give up the "throne" to Magnus Carlsen. On the current FIDE rankings, Anand is ranked 13th in the world in standard chess, 11th in rapid chess and 18th in blitz chess.
Le Quang Liem and Anand Viswanathan drew in the first set of the final.
In the second game, Le Quang Liem held the white pieces and won after 58 moves.
In the third rapid game, Le Quang Liem forced Anand to concede after the 34th move.
With a 2.5 - 0.5 lead when there was only 1 game left, Le Quang Liem was sure of the championship and the two sides drew in the final game, which was only a formality.
Winning 3-1, Le Quang Liem became the champion of the Leon Masters 2025 Chess Tournament.
After 10 Elo games against Anand, Le Quang Liem still maintains an undefeated record, with 5 wins and 5 draws.
The victory at Leon Masters 2025 strongly affirms Le Quang Liem's class and talent, especially when the Vietnamese player surpassed a living legend of the world chess village.
Last month, Le Quang Liem won the individual gold medal in board 4 at the 2025 World Rapid Chess Team Championship in London (UK). Le Quang Liem joined the Freedom team, which included many great players such as Anand Viswanathan, Rauf Mamedov, Samuel Sevian, Alexey Sarana, Haik M Matirosyan, Anna Muzychuk, Teodora Injac and Sarbartho Mani.
Leon Masters is a traditional rapid chess tournament held annually in Spain with the participation of 4 famous players. This year's tournament takes place from July 4 to 6 and the Organizing Committee has specifically invited 4 contemporary stars Anand Viswanathan, Le Quang Liem, Jaime Santos Latasa and 11-year-old "prodigy" Faustino Oro, to compete in a knockout format.
Source: https://bvhttdl.gov.vn/ky-thu-le-quang-liem-vo-dich-leon-masters-2025-20250708152846811.htm
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