Le Quang Liem defeated World Chess King Gukesh Dommaraju

Vietnam's No. 1 Chess Player - Le Quang Liem excellently defeated Chess King Gukesh Dommaraju at Saint Louis Grand Chess Tour 2025.

Le Quang Liem defeated Gukesh Dommaraju in round 7 of the blitz chess event at the Saint Louis Grand Chess Tour 2025.

Vietnam's No. 1 chess player Le Quang Liem (ELO 2729) made a big impression when he defeated World Chess Champion Gukesh Dommaraju (ELO 2776) in game 7 of the blitz chess event at the Saint Louis Grand Chess Tour 2025 on August 14 (US time). The match lasted 57 moves, Quang Liem took advantage of his 3-move advantage to force the youngest world champion in history to accept defeat. This was the first time Quang Liem had beaten Gukesh, and was also a milestone affirming his progress since winning the 2013 World Blitz Chess Championship.

Before that, Quang Liem had an impressive start with three consecutive wins against Leinier Dominguez, Fabiano Caruana and Sam Shankland. He then drew with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Grigoriy Oparin and Levon Aronian, then beat Gukesh in the seventh game. In the last two games, he lost to Wesley So and drew with Nodirbek Abdusattorov.

At the end of the first day of the blitz chess event, Quang Liem gained 6 more points, bringing his total to 13 points in both events, temporarily ranking 6th. With stable performance and a historic victory over Gukesh, Quang Liem is on track to improve his ranking on the final day of competition on August 15, aiming for the top 4 to qualify for the Finals.

The Saint Louis Grand Chess Tour 2025 takes place from August 11-15 with a combination of rapid and blitz chess, bringing together the world's top 10 players. Six people participated in the entire tour: Fabiano Caruana, Levon Aronian, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Leinier Dominguez, Le Quang Liem. Four wild cards belong to Grigoriy Oparin, Sam Shankland, Wesley So and the reigning Chess King Gukesh Dommaraju. The tournament has a total prize fund of 175,000 USD , the champion receives 40,000 USD .

Players play nine rapid games (25 minutes + 10 seconds) over the first three days, with a win worth 2 points, a draw worth 1 point, and a loss worth 0 points; followed by 18 blitz games (double round-robin) to determine the rankings. This is the fourth event in the Grand Chess Tour 2025 and determines the top four players’ places in the Finals.

Source: https://znews.vn/le-quang-liem-ha-vua-co-the-gioi-gukesh-dommaraju-post1577195.html