Grandmaster Le Quang Liem. Photo VCF
On the evening of November 12 (Vietnam time), at the 2025 Chess World Cup, Grandmaster Le Quang Liem (elo 2,729) excellently defeated the reigning Indian chess champion Karthik Venkataraman (elo 2,579) in round 4, thereby winning the right to be in the group of 16 strongest players in the world . This is Le Quang Liem's best result in many times participating in the World Cup, affirming his leading position on the international chess map.
In the decisive game, Le Quang Liem took the black pieces and entered the game with extreme caution. He chose the Nimzo-Indian Defense opening – a solid defense system that helped balance the game right from the opening stage.
Similar to the first game that took place the day before, both players played carefully and accurately in the early moves. However, when the match entered the middle game, the Vietnamese representative's character and sharpness were clearly shown. At the crucial moment, when his opponent made an inaccurate Rd1 move on the 25th move, Le Quang Liem immediately took full advantage of the opportunity to change the game.
With well-calculated moves, he gradually gained the advantage, forcing his opponent into a passive position and creating a dangerous through-punch in column a. Under intense pressure, the home player made consecutive mistakes and had to pay the price with a bold diagonal attack from Le Quang Liem's f4 (Bf4) bishop, giving him the advantage in quality.
After nearly 5 hours of intense competition with 68 moves, the Vietnamese grandmaster calmly exploited his advantage, made no mistakes and ended the game with a worthy victory.
The victory over Karthik Venkataraman was particularly significant for Le Quang Liem personally. He surpassed his own record at the World Cup, where he had twice stopped in the fourth round in 2013 and 2019.
Not only is this a personal achievement, it is also a historic milestone for Vietnamese chess in the international arena. In the context of world chess gathering many top players, the presence of a Vietnamese representative in the group of 16 strongest players is a proud result, showing the growing position of Vietnam on the global chess map.
Fans across the country are looking to Le Quang Liem with the belief and expectation that he will continue to maintain his impressive form, go further in the 2025 Chess World Cup and get closer to a ticket to the World Chess Championship.
Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/le-quang-liem-co-chien-thang-lich-su-tai-world-cup-co-vua-2025-723101.html
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