Vietnam’s number one player Le Quang Liem defeated world number five Levon Aronian 3-1 on the first day of the semi-finals, the Chessable Masters online chess tournament on the morning of August 6.

Quang Liem (right) got the best result against Aronian. Photo: Chess24

Quang Liem (right) got the best result against Aronian. Photo: Chess24

The scenario of the first semi-final with Quang Liem was the same as when he fought in the quarter-finals against Alireza Firouzja. The Ho Chi Minh City player won both games with white pieces, and drew two games with black pieces, to end the day with a score of 3-1.

In the first game against Aronian, Quang Liem entered the endgame with two horses against statue and horse. He successfully rhymes to catch the black rooster, then wins after 83 moves.

In the second game, the white king of Quang Liem entered the far city, but was caught and had to run up to the f4. Aronian prevailed but made a mistake and fell into the full blow of Quang Liem.

Aronian has just walked from e6 to d7, blocking the white car's path so that the black queen can catch the code. But, Quang Liem immediately discovered that the white runner-up country was shown at g8. Black will be shown on the next move, so Aronian surrenders.

Aronian has just walked from e6 to d7, blocking the white car’s path so that the black queen can catch the code. But, Quang Liem immediately discovered that the white runner-up country was shown at g8. Black will be shown on the next move, so Aronian surrenders.

After the game, Aronian said: “Obviously my opponent played better today. Something was wrong. I worked hard at important moments. For example in the last game I had a chance. win if I catch white d8. I tried to complicate the game, but maybe today I played a bit slow.”

And Quang Liem shared: “I am very happy, with the best result of my career against Aronian. Aronian has always been a creative player, and unpredictable in his moves. Today Aronian surprised me. I doubt every time he takes the white, because he rarely goes 1.e4. Obviously he prepared quite well for the match.”

Quang Liem always appeared calm in all four games. But when the commentator Chess24 When asked how he controlled his heart rate, Quang Liem said: “Honestly, there are moments when my heart feels like jumping on the roof. There are times when I’m nervous, but I calm myself down and say: ‘Let’s see. Is there any way out?'”.

Quang Liem only needs to hold Aronian in four games of the second semi-final, taking place from 10pm on Friday, August 6, Hanoi time. If he reached the final, he met Wesley So or Vladislav Artemiev.

Aronian is ranked fifth in the world with Elo 2,782. He is the only player to have won the World Cup twice by knockout, in 2005 and 2017. The Armenian player also won the FIDE Grand Prix 2008-2010, the 2009 world fast chess champion and the 2010 world blitz chess champion. The 38-year-old player has just moved to play for the US team from March 2021.

Quang Liem ranked 30th in the world with Elo 2,709. He is living in St Louis, USA, but still holds Vietnamese nationality. The 30-year-old player once told VnExpress that he would never play for another team.

Chessable Masters is the eighth stage of the Champions Chess Tour – the online chess tournament system for Chess King Magnus Carlsen initiated with a prize fund of 1.5 million USD. 16 players competed in a round robin, selecting eight to enter the knockout round. The winner of the Chessable Masters final will receive $30,000.

Xuan Binh


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