Quang Liem defeated two top 3 American players on the final day of the St Louis GCT 2017 tournament.
Vietnam's number one chess player shares fifth place with Fabiano Caruana (2,807) and Leinier Dominguez (2,739) with 16.5 points after 27 games in the most attractive chess tournament on the planet.
Le Quang Liem (Elo 2,739) received a prize of $10,000, successfully ending the major tournament, reaching the level of the world's top super grandmasters. The championship belonged to "Beckham of Armenia" - Levon Aronian (2,799) with 24.5 points.
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Quang Liem beat Caruana (world number three) in all three games. Photo: GCT. |
Just like the first day of rapid chess, Quang Liem excellently defeated two players in the world's Top 7, Caruana and Nakamura (2,792), in the first two games of the final day of blitz chess. This result helped him achieve 3/3 points with Caruana and 2.5/3 points against Nakamura - the self-proclaimed best player on the planet in super blitz chess.
"I was also a bit surprised by this result. I was very lucky in the rapid game, but in the two blitz games, I played better than Caruana overall," Quang Liem told VnExpress. "I also beat Nakamura with a score of 2.5-0.5. This is also a bit surprising because Nakamura is very strong in rapid and blitz chess."
After losing to Quang Liem in rapid chess, Nakamura behaved in an unsportsmanlike manner, standing up and turning away while shaking hands with his opponent. This issue made the tournament commentators unhappy. "Nakamura did not stand up and shake hands anymore, but he and I did not say anything after the blitz game," Quang Liem revealed.
In the next game, Quang Liem almost had a 2-1 head-to-head score against champion Levon Aronian, had he not run out of time in a winning position. The world No. 23 finished the tournament with a 1.5–1.5 score against his idol Garry Kasparov, after the two split their last encounter.
"I think Kasparov played well, especially after 12 years of retirement. Of course, if I hadn't made a silly mistake in the rapid game, I could have got 2/3 points. Overall, I think the result is reasonable," he said.
Quang Liem also successfully avenged David Navara (2,737) to close the final day with three wins and three draws in nine games.
"I missed a lot of chances," he regretfully recalled his games against Kasparov and Navara in rapid chess, against Karjakin on the first day of blitz chess and against Aronian most recently. "If I had taken advantage of all those chances, I could have improved my ranking to fourth place. But then again, other players also missed a lot of chances, so there's no 'if'."
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Quang Liem defeated Caruana in the endgame with rook, bishop, and knight against queen. Photo: GCT. |
This is the first time Quang Liem has been invited to a stage of the Grand Chess Tour. He is ranked equal to the world's number three and above two former Chess Kings - Kasparov and Anand. This achievement helps the number one Vietnamese chess player feel more confident with his immediate goal - reaching Elo 2,750 and entering the Top 20 of the world chess community.
Quang Liem will fly back to Vietnam to rest for a few days, before going to Tbisili (Georgia) to attend the Chess World Cup, starting from September 1. The world's top 15 players are all present and Vietnam has two representatives in the tournament, including Quang Liem and Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son (2,629).
| The Grand Chess Tour (GCT) is the most exciting chess tournament system on the planet, according to fans and experts. Although it was only launched in 2015, GCT brings together all the strongest players in the world, competing in many stages throughout the year. Since 2016, the tournament organizers have added a speed chess format (rapid & blitz). By 2017, the tournament includes five stages (two standard stages, three speed stages). Each stage always includes 10 players. In rapid chess, players have 25 minutes to think and an additional 10 seconds for each move (25+10). Meanwhile, the time for blitz chess is 5+3. Each year, the Organizing Committee announces its own conditions for players to participate in the tournament. But to get an official ticket, they usually have to be in the top 10. In addition, the Organizing Committee also grants special tickets in each stage (standard chess gives 1 invitation, speed chess gives 4 invitations), including invitations for players outside the Top 20. But participants usually have to achieve an Elo coefficient of at least 2,700 (super grandmaster), with some exceptions for players from the host country. The 2015 champion was reigning World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen. Last year, Wesley So – the world’s number two player – won the title with a total prize of $295,000. The 2017 Speed Chess Champion received $37,500, with the prize fund increasing each year. |
Game 10 results
Aronian-Nakamura 1/2
Karjakin-Kasparov 1-0
Caruana-Quang Liem 0-1
Nepo-Anand 0-1
Navara-Dominguez 0-1
Game 11
Navara-Aronian 1-0
Dominguez-Karjakin 0-1
Anand-Caruana 0-1
Quang Liem-Nakamura 1-0
Kasparov-Nepo ½
Game 12
Aronian-Quang Liem 1-0
Nakamura-Anand 1-0
Caruana-Kasparov 0-1
Nepo-Dominguez 1-0
Karjakin-Navara 0-1
Game 13
Karjakin-Aronian 1/2
Dominguez-Caruana 1-0
Anand-Quang Liem 1/2
Navara-Nepo 1/2
Kasparov-Nakamura 1-0
Game 14
Nakamura-Dominguez 0-1
Caruana-Navara 1-0
Aronian-Anand 1/2
Nepo-Karjakin 1/2
Quang Liem-Kasparov ½
Game 15
Karjakin-Caruana 1-0
Nepo 0-1 Aronian
Navara-Nakamura 0-1
Dominguez-Quang Liem 1/2
Kasparov-Anand ½
Game 16
Aronian-Kasparov 1/2
Nakamura-Karjakin 1-0
Quang Liem 1-0 Navara
Anand 0-1 Dominguez
Caruana 0-1 Nepo
Game 17
Caruana-Aronian 0-1
Dominguez-Kasparov 0-1
Karjakin-Quang Liem 1-0
Nepo-Hikaru 1/2
Navara-Anand ½
Game 18
Aronian-Dominguez 1-0
Nakamura-Caruana 1-0
Quang Liem-Nepo 0-1
Kasparov-Navara 1/2
Anand-Karjakin 1/2
St Louis GCT 2017 Final Results
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According to VNE
