Identifying Le Quang Liem's ​​opponent in round 5 of the 2025 Chess World Cup

Having successfully qualified for the 5th round of the 2025 Chess World Cup for 16 excellent players, Vietnam's number 1 chess player Le Quang Liem also identified his opponent.

Le Quang Liem meets a tough opponent

On the evening of November 12, Vietnam's No. 1 chess player Le Quang Liem (elo 2,729) defeated the reigning Indian chess champion Venkataraman Karthik (elo 2,579), thereby winning the right to enter the 5th round of the 2025 Chess World Cup for the 16 best players of the tournament. This is Le Quang Liem's ​​best achievement in many times participating in the Chess World Cup.

Waiting for Le Quang Liem to show his talent in round 5 of the 2025 Chess World Cup

PHOTO: FIDE

Le Quang Liem's ​​opponent in the 5th round taking place on November 14 is chess player Alexander Donchenko (Germany, elo 2,641). Alexander Donchenko, 27 years old, is a Russian-born player and is currently one of the top chess players in Germany. Alexander Donchenko's international career is not outstanding, most notably the title of champion of the Tata Steel Challengers 2023 tournament in the Netherlands. That was also the year that this player reached the highest elo of his career, 2,684.

In the most recent encounter at the Biel Chess Festival 2024 in the Netherlands, Alexander Donchenko drew with Le Quang Liem. Alexander Donchenko's performance at the 2025 Chess World Cup was very good, winning all 4 matches in standard chess without having to enter tie-breaks in rapid chess or blitz chess. Most impressive was his victory over No. 4 seed Anish Kumar Giri (Netherlands, elo 2,759) in the 3rd round.

Alexander Donchenko is in good form, ready to surprise Le Quang Liem

PHOTO: FIDE

Alexander Donchenko is in good form but 13th seed Le Quang Liem has also proven his strength by winning all previous rounds after only 2 standard games. With the encounter with an opponent considered to be of equal strength, Le Quang Liem is expected to continue writing history for Vietnamese chess by entering the quarter-finals of the Chess World Cup for the first time.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nhan-dien-doi-thu-cua-le-quang-liem-o-vong-5-world-cup-co-vua-2025-185251112231919594.htm