Chess player Quang Liem calculates sharply, enters second round of World Cup 2017

Quang Liem and Truong Son - the two most talented players in Vietnam - continued to bring home successful results in the second game of the first round.

Le Quang Liem (Elo 2,739) went first and defeated Vitaly Kunin (2,531) in the endgame of bishop and three pawns against a rook. A few minutes earlier, Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son (2,629) also achieved his goal of drawing with Adhiban Baskaran (2,670) despite having to go later.

Vietnam's number one player can be satisfied with the second game against Kunin. After a draw in the opening match, Quang Liem was determined to play aggressively with the advantage of going first. He made some "provocative" moves right in the opening such as 5.d5, 8.Nh3 and 9.Nb5.

After only 12 moves, the computer announced a slight advantage. The Truong Son - Baskaran pair will be resolved in a tie-break series taking place at 6:00 p.m. this afternoon (Hanoi time). Meanwhile, Quang Liem will have a day off to relax before entering the second round against Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (2,702 - third place India) - the first player to pass the first round of the World Cup.

Quang Liem won thanks to a bold but reasonable strategy. Photo: Chess Daily.

Quang Liem made an even more risky move, exchanging the queen for a bishop, knight, and a stormy attack on moves 18 and 19. The strength of the bishop, knight, and rook on d1 and especially the pawn on d6 gradually helped Quang Liem wipe out the opponent's queenside pawns. That advantage helped Quang Liem capture the black queen. After move 26, the game entered an endgame with a bishop and three white pawns against a black rook.

However, this position was not simple, as the computer also indicated that White had a slight advantage. But Quang Liem showed his excellent calculation ability when he decided to sacrifice two queenside pawns. His purpose was to push the black pawn out of the h-file, opening the way for the white pawn and the same file to promote the queen. With the help of White's king and bishop, Quang Liem succeeded in promoting at 60.h8=Q. Kunin was forced to stop the clock.

Truong Son's efforts were equally effective, as he held his stronger opponent to a draw in a positional game. Baskaran tried every way to penetrate Truong Son's defense, from the queenside to the kingside and back again. But the fifth-ranked Indian player had to accept a draw after 34 moves, unable to find a way to win.

Truong Son hopes to win the tie-break with his strength in blitz chess. Photo: Chess Daily.

The two sides will enter a tie-break to decide the winner, starting with two rapid games (25 minutes plus 10 seconds per move). If there is still no winner, they will play two rapid games (10+10), two blitz games (5+3) and finally a decisive “armageddon” game (white has five minutes, black has four minutes, plus three seconds per move from move 61, if the result is a draw, black wins).

“It seems like my opponent is very strong in blitz, so I will try to settle things early in rapid,” Baskaran laughed and told Chessbase India after the match. Truong Son’s current rapid and blitz ratings are 2.721 and 2.654, significantly higher than Adhiban (2.641 rapid, 2.577 blitz).

According to VNE