Le Quang Liem wins historic victory at 2025 Chess World Cup

(Dan Tri) - Grandmaster Le Quang Liem just had a dramatic victory in round 4 of the 2025 Chess World Cup, officially entering the ranks of the world's top chess players.

In the first leg of the 4th round of the 2025 Chess World Cup held on November 12, Le Quang Liem excellently defeated the host country's player Karthik Venkataraman (India). This victory brought Quang Liem to the round of 16 (round 5) of the 2025 FIDE World Cup for the first time in his career.

Le Quang Liem in the match with Venkataraman in the second leg of round 4 of the Chess World Cup in India (Photo: FIDE).

With an Elo score of 2,729, Quang Liem had a tense match with Venkataraman (Elo 2,576). The Vietnamese representative chose a defensive Nimzo-India opening, a solid move that helped him achieve strategic balance in the middle game.

The turning point of the game came when Venkataraman made a string of weak moves and Quang Liem did not miss the opportunity, quickly creating a strong passed pawn in the 'a' column.

To capture this dangerous pawn, Venkataraman was forced to trade his Rook for a Bishop. With a significant advantage in the suit and an equal number of pawns in the endgame, Le Quang Liem showed excellent advantage conversion skills. He slowly and steadily pushed his opponent's pieces and forced him to surrender, winning convincingly to advance to round 5.

Due to a draw in the first leg, the result in the second leg was enough for Quang Liem to advance without having to play a tie-break (deciding the winner by rapid or blitz chess). Notably, the 34-year-old player won all three matches at the 2025 Chess World Cup in standard games.

This is the clearest proof of the thorough preparation, strong mentality and excellent control of the game of the Vietnamese Grandmaster. Winning decisively with standard chess not only saves energy but also affirms Quang Liem's ​​superior tactical level compared to his opponents.

With this victory, Le Quang Liem received a prize of 25,000 USD (more than 650 million VND) from the Organizing Committee for reaching the round of 16. This is the first time Quang Liem has reached the 5th round of the Chess World Cup. His previous best results at the Chess World Cup were round 4, achieved in 2013 and 2019.

Le Quang Liem shares his joy after winning the right to advance to round 5 of the 2025 Chess World Cup (Photo: FIDE).

Entering the 5th round of the Chess World Cup not only strengthens Le Quang Liem's ​​position in the professional chess world, but is also a strong affirmation for Vietnamese chess, ready to compete equally with the world 's great powers of this sport.

Now, all fans are looking forward to round 5, where Le Quang Liem will face player Alexander Donchenko (Germany, Elo 2,641) taking place on November 14.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/le-quang-liem-gianh-chien-thang-lich-su-tai-world-cup-co-vua-2025-20251113095351087.htm