Try to think why Le Quang Liem won many chess kings, but lost to unknown players

Few people know that throughout his career, Le Quang Liem defeated 8 chess champions, but then he was stopped by an unknown player - Alexander Donchenko, when he had the opportunity to make a breakthrough in his career.

Le Quang Liem once defeated Dinh Lap Nhan (right) when the Chinese player was the chess champion - Photo: FIDE

The 8 "chess kings" that Le Quang Liem has defeated (counting the total standard, rapid, and blitz chess events) are Anand, Ponomariov, Kasimdzhanov, Topalov, Kramnik, Carlsen, Dinh Lap Nhan, and Dommaraju.

Among these, the victories against the previous generation such as Kramnik and Anand are actually not worth mentioning, because they only lost to Le Quang Liem when they were past the other side of their career.

It is very difficult for "old men in their 50s" to beat players at their peak. But the truth is that Le Quang Liem has defeated three contemporary chess masters Carlsen, Dinh Lap Nhan and Dommaraju when they were at their peak, even when they were chess masters.

Specifically, he beat Carlsen in 2022, beat Dinh in 2024 and Dommaraju in August this year.

But then, in one of the most important chess matches of his career, Le Quang Liem lost to Alexander Donchenko, a player with an Elo rating of only 2641, far below his 2729 rating, as well as 60 places lower in ranking.

Not only that, this was also a convincing defeat, when Le Quang Liem was continuously forced to chase Donchenko for 3 consecutive days of competition, not losing because of a moment of carelessness.

Why could Le Quag Liem lose to Donchenko, while his strength is rated by ChessTV as "top in the world "?

Le Quang Liem is entering the age of stagnation?

The question is, has Le Quang Liem really entered the "other side of his career slope" age?

According to research from PMC, a center of the US Institute of Medicine, the "peak Elo" age of professional chess players is 30.65 years old. Another study published in ScienceDaily said that the peak age in chess is 31.4 years old.

In general, the top chess community almost unanimously agrees that the age of 27-32 is the peak time for chess players. And at the age of 34, it is understandable that Le Quang Liem can no longer maintain his form.

Physical factors?

One factor that few people pay attention to is the physical strength of chess players - an intellectual sport . There have been many studies showing that physical strength is extremely important in the professional chess world.

Accordingly, athletes must constantly train physically to maintain peak physical condition. Compared to many other professional players, Le Quang Liem has gradually switched to teaching and has started a family, so of course he is no longer 100% focused on his athletic career.

The chess match with Donchenko lasted for 3 days, even going to the 8th game with Le Quang Liem constantly chasing.

Le Quang Liem had the advantage in the 8th game, but then made a mistake in the "dueling" situation around moves 34-40, when the two players almost had no time to think under the time pressure of blitz chess.

If Le Quang Liem was under 30 years old, he would have been able to maintain his composure in this dramatic match. In 2013, Le Quang Liem won the World Blitz Chess Championship.

Donchenko's Outbreak

It is undeniable that Donchenko is talented. He was born in 1998, 7 years younger than Le Quang Liem and is in peak condition.

Donchenko (left) is in extremely good form - Photo: FIDE

There is a calculation bar in chess called "performance rating", to evaluate the performance of chess players. According to the assessment of the website Hirmulintu , Donchenko achieved "Elo 2800" performance when playing Le Quang Liem.

That is the Elo of Nakamura and Caruana, currently ranked 2-3 in the world. This is shown by Donchenko defeating Anish Giri - ranked 5th in the world in the early rounds of the World Cup.

In fact, comparing Elo between players and then judging their strength or weakness has never been an accurate assessment. Because Elo is a score accumulated over the years of a player's career, and young players entering the explosive stage have never been properly assessed through Elo.

In conclusion, Le Quang Liem's ​​defeat against Donchenko was a real defeat, showing that the German player is stronger and better than Le Quang Liem at the present time, not because of a moment of carelessness of the number one Vietnamese player.

HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/thu-suy-nghi-vi-sao-le-quang-liem-thang-nhieu-vua-co-nhung-lai-thua-ky-thu-vo-danh-20251117105029265.htm