Grandmaster Le Quang Liem has just brilliantly secured a ticket to participate in the 2026 Esports World Cup super tournament - Photo: FBNV
On the evening of May 20th, Grandmaster Le Quang Liem shared on his personal page that immediately after finishing the EWC qualifying round in Atlanta and while on his way back to Saint Louis, he received an invitation for a live interview from the Grand Chess Tour currently taking place in Romania.
Notably, when asked by international commentators about the closure of Webster University's chess program, Quang Liem stated that he would remain in Saint Louis and was considering his next steps.
For now, Vietnam's number one chess player will focus entirely on five major tournaments consecutively from now until August, culminating in the Esports World Cup (EWC) finals in Saudi Arabia.
Next, Le Quang Liem revealed some extremely interesting information: he will be teaming up with his close friend and junior, Awonder Liang (a player who trained with Liem for a year at Webster), to compete in the World Rapid and Blitz Team Championship in Hong Kong (the tournament will take place from June 16 to 22, 2026).
This team will compete under the banner of "Mr. Birdie & Friends," bringing together outstanding young talents to stand alongside Le Quang Liem, including: chess players Awonder Liang, Benjamin Gledura, Vladislav Artemiev, Sam Sevian, and Carissa Yip.
Le Quang Liem (right) during an online interview with two commentators at the Super Chess Classic Romania 2026 - Photo: screenshot
Although he didn't compete directly in Romania, Le Quang Liem said he always followed the Grand Chess Tour (GCT) system. He expressed his admiration for how top players constantly changed their opening styles and systems, such as Grandmaster Vincent Keymer and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (MVL).
According to Quang Liem, thanks to the assistance of today's supercomputers, modern chess players have become extremely well-rounded.
A player who specializes in 1.d4 can easily switch to 1.e4 after just a few weeks of careful study. This makes it more difficult to anticipate your opponent's moves, but it also makes the games much more varied and interesting.
At the end of the conversation, the international commentators wished Grandmaster Le Quang Liem good luck in his upcoming major tournaments.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/le-quang-liem-bat-mi-ke-hoach-tuong-lai-20260521095258524.htm
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