Quang Liem had an explosive match day when he defeated Chess King Gukesh - Photo: Chess.com
After finishing 8th in the rapid chess event on August 14, Le Quang Liem made a strong comeback on the first day of blitz chess. Vietnam's No. 1 player showed impressive form, winning 6 out of 9 maximum points, placing him in the leading group with big names such as Wesley So, Grigoriy Oparin, Levon Aronian and Nodirbek Abdusattorov.
Le Quang Liem started the day with three consecutive wins against Leinier Dominguez, Fabiano Caruana and Sam Shankland. He continued his good form with three draws against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Oparin and Aronian. The highlight was the seventh game, when he held the black pieces and brilliantly defeated Gukesh.
In this match, Quang Liem used the Cozio Defense to deal with Gukesh's Spanish opening. The two players soon exchanged queens and entered the endgame.
With the advantage of time, Quang Liem skillfully maneuvered his rook and captured his opponent's pawn, while the Indian Chess King made consecutive mistakes. The game ended after 57 moves with a convincing victory for the Vietnamese player.
Le Quang Liem answers questions after winning against Chess King Gukesh - Photo: screenshot
This is the second time in his career that Quang Liem has defeated a reigning Chess Champion on the board. He previously defeated Magnus Carlsen in 2022, but that match was played online. With the victory over Gukesh, Quang Liem has added another name to the list of Chess Champions he has defeated, after Ding Liren and Magnus Carlsen.
Although Gukesh is known as a standard chess prodigy, he has yet to show consistency in rapid chess, especially blitz. Meanwhile, Quang Liem won the world blitz chess championship in 2013, showing that he is a formidable opponent in this genre.
At the end of the first day of blitz chess, Quang Liem lost to Wesley So and drew with Abdusattorov. With 6 points, he climbed to the same rank as Gukesh, both with 13 points. Aronian is leading with 19 points, while Caruana is second with 17 points.
The tournament will continue with the final 9 blitz games tomorrow morning, August 16. Although the chance of winning the championship is not much, if he maintains his impressive form like today, Quang Liem can completely improve his record. He will have the opportunity to face Gukesh again and this will be a match worth watching when the 19-year-old Chess King will definitely want to get revenge.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/le-quang-liem-danh-bai-vua-co-gukesh-o-co-chop-20250815110902459.htm
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