Le Quang Liem won the Spice Cup 2011.
In the final game played early this morning against Cuban player Leinier Dominguez, Le Quang Liem secured a decisive victory and officially became the champion of the Spice Cup 2011.
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Le Quang Liem receives the championship trophy. |
Before this match, Le Quang Liem's position was under threat. Dominguez maintained a one-point lead at the top. Further down the table, German player George Meier performed successfully in the final rounds, catching up to Le Quang Liem with 14 points and even surpassing him in tie-breaking criteria.
In this situation, only a victory against Dominguez will help Le Quang Liem solidify his position. The Cuban player is a long-standing rival of Le Quang Liem. He previously lost to Liem at the Casablanca tournament held in his home country of Cuba – where Dominguez had never tasted defeat before – and then defeated the Vietnamese player in game 5 while playing with the white pieces.
In game 10, during the return match, it was Le Quang Liem's turn to open. While Quang Liem took the initiative with confident moves, Dominguez appeared quite flustered. The pressure in this decisive game significantly affected the Cuban player's thinking ability. He made a wrong move, which Le Quang Liem successfully exploited to put Dominguez in a losing position.
The victory earned Le Quang Liem 3 points, propelling him to the top of the tournament with 17 points after 10 games. Dominguez, however, was fortunate to finish as runner-up, as young German player Georg Meier drew his final game against French opponent Sebastien Feller. This draw cost Meier the chance to move up to second place. With the same 15 points as Dominguez, the German player finished third due to a lower tie-breaking score.
Overall standings: 1- Le Quang Liem (Vietnam) 17 points, 2- Leinier Dominguez (Cuba) 15 points, 3- Georg Meier (Germany) 15 points, 4- Ray Robson (USA) 11 points, 5- Sebastien Feller (France) 9 points, 6- Yuri Shulman (USA) 7 points.
(According to VnExpress)