Le Quang Liem miraculously escaped defeat in round 5 of the 2025 Chess World Cup

VHO - Despite facing the risk of defeat in the endgame, Vietnam's No. 1 chess player - Le Quang Liem still showed great courage to get a draw in round 5 of the World Chess Cup (FIDE World Cup 2025), taking place in Goa (India).

Quang Liem's ​​(Elo 2,729) opponent in round 5 is the lower-rated player - Alexander Donchenko (Elo 2,641) who is outside the world's top 50.

Quang Liem and Donchenko continue to be undecided

On the way to round 5, Donchenko created an earthquake when he eliminated the tournament's number 4 seed, Anish Giri (Netherlands), in round 3.

After a draw in game 1, Quang Liem had the advantage of going first in game 2, which ended on the evening of November 15.

The first move advantage helped Vietnam's number 1 player create a good position at the opening.

However, Quang Liem made mistakes that left him with 2 fewer pawns than his opponent and forced him into the endgame.

At this time, many people thought Quang Liem would stop because he lost the game and Donchenko created a big advantage.

But in the most difficult times, the 1991-born player showed great courage.

Quang Liem made accurate moves in key games, taking advantage of his opponent's mistake in move 59 to get an important draw after nearly 5 hours and 30 minutes of play.

Tied 1-1 after 2 games, Quang Liem and Donchenko will enter a tie-break series of 2 rapid chess games of 15 minutes +10 seconds at 4:30 p.m. this afternoon, November 16 (Vietnam time).

In case of a draw, the two players will play two rapid games of 10 minutes + 10 seconds. If there is a draw, it will be a blitz tie-break and possibly a life-or-death blitz game.

Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/the-thao/le-quang-liem-thoat-thua-ngoan-muc-o-vong-5-world-cup-co-vua-2025-181740.html