Le Quang Liem (left) was defeated by Donchenko - Photo: FIDE
Surprises have been coming in this year's Chess World Cup, with top players like seed number 1 Gukesh Dommaraju, seed number 3 Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, seed number 4 Anish Giri... being eliminated early in the tournament.
I've died and come back to life many times.
The defeat of the strongest players has ignited a spark of hope for Le Quang Liem - the 13th seed in the tournament.
According to the rules, the top 3 World Cup chess teams will qualify for the 2026 Candidates Tournament - a tournament featuring the 8 strongest players (excluding the world champion) to select a participant in the World Chess Championship final.
Maintaining consistent form from the start of the tournament, Le Quang Liem has advanced to the Round of 16, the round of the 16 strongest players. His opponent in this round is Donchenko, who has an Elo rating of 2641 and is ranked 82nd in the world. Donchenko is far behind Le Quang Liem in Elo and ranking (Liem is currently ranked 22nd in the world), but is considered the "dark horse" of the tournament. In the third round, Donchenko convincingly defeated Anish Giri.
The German player demonstrated his ability with two consecutive draws against Le Quang Liem in the first two days of the competition, when they faced each other in standard chess. In particular, Le Quang Liem had to work hard to come from behind and secure a draw against his opponent in the second game.
After drawing two standard chess games, the two players played two more rapid chess games (15 minutes each, plus 10 seconds per move) on November 16th to decide the final winner. In the first game, Le Quang Liem made a serious mistake on the 27th move, giving Donchenko the opportunity to advance his pawn to the end of the board and have a great chance to be promoted to queen. Unable to salvage the situation, Le Quang Liem decided to concede after 39 moves.
In the second game, Le Quang Liem, playing with the black pieces, dominated Donchenko from the start, and then secured a convincing victory after 38 moves. The match was once again brought to a draw.
According to the rules, the two players continued to play rapid chess, but each game had only 10 minutes left, plus 10 seconds for each move. And once again, a similar chase unfolded between Le Quang Liem and Donchenko. Playing with white pieces in the first game, Le Quang Liem lost, but won the next game playing with black pieces.
Is there any chance left for Liem?
After six games played over three consecutive days, the two players had to continue with two blitz games to determine the winner. This time, the time limit was reduced to just 5 minutes plus 3 seconds per move. Le Quang Liem was the world blitz chess champion in 2013.
However, the 12-year gap makes a big difference. The most significant difference is perhaps Liem's age; at 34, he's nearing the "peak" of a chess player's career – typically considered to be around 35. Meanwhile, Donchenko is only 28, and although less experienced, he possesses superior physical fitness.
Both players drew in the first blitz game (game 7), and entered the second game with Le Quang Liem playing with the black pieces. But this time, the miracle didn't happen again. After 32 moves, Quang Liem captured his opponent's queen, but then a series of hurried moves (due to the very limited time) led to the Vietnamese player making mistakes. From having the advantage, Liem fell into a disadvantageous position and ultimately lost on move 48. In the end, Quang Liem lost with a score of 3.5 - 4.5.
This defeat ended Le Quang Liem's historic journey at the 2025 Chess World Cup in the round of 16, meaning he once again missed out on a spot in the Candidates Tournament.
The Chess World Cup takes place every two years. But in two years' time, it will be very difficult for Le Quang Liem, at nearly 40 years old, to dream of winning the world championship.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/le-quang-liem-de-lo-thoi-co-lich-su-2025111710174675.htm
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