Quang Liem made a mistake, Vietnam chess lost regrettably at Olympiad

In the 10th round of the 2024 World Chess Team Championship (Olympiad) taking place on the evening of September 21, the Vietnamese men's chess team faced the 13th seeded opponent Spain with a relaxed mentality as the goal of winning a medal at the tournament was no longer there, because we had previously dropped to 10th place and only had 2 rounds left.

Quang Liem (right) unexpectedly lost to David Anton at table 1 (Photo: FIDE).

However, player Le Quang Liem (elo 2,741) unexpectedly lost to David Anton (elo 2,665) in table 1 even though he was 76 elo points ahead of his opponent. Vietnam's number one player almost had a big advantage in the middle game, but with just one precise sacrifice, the Spanish representative turned the situation around and won the final victory after 39 moves.

On table 3, Le Tuan Minh (elo 2,564) also created an overwhelming position against Alan Pichot (elo 2,628), however the Vietnamese player could not convert it into a victory and let his opponent hold him to a regrettable draw.

At the remaining two tables, Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son (elo 2,633) and Tran Tuan Minh (elo 2,434) were both tied with Vallejo Pons (elo 2,657) and Santos Latasa (elo 2,624).

In the end, the Vietnamese men's chess team lost to the Spanish team with a score of 1.5-2.5. This defeat caused the Vietnamese team to drop from 10th place to 25th place and the chance to enter the top 10 is almost gone with only 1 final match against the Canadian team today (September 22).

In the women's team event, the Vietnamese team also unfortunately lost to host Hungary with a score of 1.5-2.5. Vo Thi Kim Phung, Luong Phuong Hanh, and Bach Ngoc Thuy Duong all shared points with their opponents.

In which Kim Phung held the former number 1 of Vietnam, now playing for the Hungarian national team, Hoang Thanh Trang to a draw on table number 2.

However, at table number 1, Pham Le Thao Nguyen (elo 2,380) lost to Gaal Zsoka (elo 2,385), so the Vietnamese women's chess team accepted defeat.

After 10 games, the Vietnamese women's chess team ranked 11th and will face the Chinese team in the 11th and final game today.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/quang-liem-mac-sai-lam-co-vua-viet-nam-thua-dang-tiec-o-olympiad-20240922073527013.htm