Review of Le Quang Liem's ​​spectacular draw in round 5 of the Chess World Cup

Please join Tuoi Tre Online to review the main events of the match between Le Quang Liem and Alexander Donchenko, where the Vietnamese player had a spectacular escape to get a draw.

After 2 matches, both Le Quang Liem (left) and Donchenko ended in a draw - Photo: FIDE

On the evening of November 15, the second match of round 5 of the 2025 Chess World Cup between Grandmaster Le Quang Liem (Vietnam) and Alexander Donchenko (Germany) ended in a draw. But it was a hard-fought draw, decided by the Vietnamese player's steely determination and his opponent's last-minute mistake.

Entering the second round, Le Quang Liem held the white pieces and both Grandmasters started the game with the King's Indian Defense opening.

Initially, the two players played confidently and actively pushed the game to a king-robin endgame. It seemed like a draw was in sight, but everything changed completely when Le Quang Liem made an incorrect move in the endgame.

The mistake with the b4 move immediately turned the game around, giving Alexander Donchenko's black a huge advantage and a chance to win. After a series of moves, the German player had gained two more pawns, putting Quang Liem in an extremely difficult position.

Le Quang Liem's ​​incorrect b4 move - Photo: Screenshot

Black has a big advantage with 2 more pawns - Photo: Screenshot

Despite being at a clear disadvantage, the Vietnamese representative did not give up. Le Quang Liem applied a reasonable strategy: Play tenaciously and move quickly to put time pressure on Alexander Donchenko, while patiently waiting for his opponent to make a mistake. And that strategy worked in the final moves.

The key phase of the game came on Rf6. Le Quang Liem made consecutive rook checks on g6 and f6, forcing Donchenko to make a choice between Kg2 or Ke2.

If Black moves the king to the g2 square, victory is almost certain for the German player - Photo: Screenshot

The correct choice here is the kingly move g2. If Donchenko plays Kg2, Black can move his rook to g3 to neutralize the check and protect the pawn, then leisurely promote the pawn to win.

Fortunately, Alexander Donchenko made the wrong choice at the decisive moment. The German player decided to move his king to e2, and this was the crucial mistake that cost the German Grandmaster a victory that was so close.

After the opponent made a mistake, Le Quang Liem immediately moved Rh6 to punish Black's mistake - Photo: Screenshot

White can draw with Black in this position even though he loses a pawn - Photo: Screenshot

If black pushes his pawn to h3, white will move his rook to a2 to checkmate the black king. This will force the black king to move to the first rank and will not be able to protect the black pawn that has been promoted. White will then move Kf4 and wait for continuous checkmate on the black king to draw the game.

Le Quang Liem's ​​bravery, combined with time pressure and his opponent's mistakes, helped the 34-year-old player excellently draw, preserving his hope of moving on.

Le Quang Liem and Alexander Donchenko will have to decide the winner in a nerve-wracking tie-break at 4:30 p.m. this afternoon (November 16). Reaching the 5th round of the Chess World Cup is a historic achievement for Le Quang Liem and Vietnamese chess.

TUAN LONG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/xem-lai-van-dau-le-quang-liem-thu-hoa-ngoan-muc-tai-vong-5-world-cup-co-vua-20251116002338234.htm