Le Quang Liem meets 'Asian chess king' in the final of Leon Master 2025

On July 5, Vietnam's No. 1 chess player Le Quang Liem excellently defeated player Jaime Santos Latasa, thereby winning the right to enter the finals of the Leon Masters 2025 tournament.

Le Quang Liem (second from left) will meet Viswanathan Anand (right, far right) at the Leon Masters final - Photo: Chessbase

Leon Masters is a prestigious traditional rapid chess tournament in Spain, bringing together 4 players Anand, Quang Liem, Santos Latasa and 11-year-old prodigy Faustino Oro.

Here, the players play 4 rapid games of 20 minutes each, with an additional 10 seconds added after each move. If after 4 rapid games there is still no winner, they will enter a blitz tie-break (official 5 minutes plus 3 seconds added after each move) to determine the winner.

Yesterday (July 5), Le Quang Liem had a very brave performance against Santos Latasa. He drew all 4 rapid games, before showing his superiority in blitz. Vietnam's No. 1 player wins both blitz games, thereby setting the final score at 4-2 and winning a ticket to the final.

Quang Liem's ​​opponent in the final match is Viswanathan Anand, 55 years old, known as "Asia's first chess king". He dominated the world chess scene from 2007 - 2013 after defeating Vladimir Kramnik, before losing the "throne" to Magnus Carlsen.

Anand is currently ranked 13th in the world in standard chess, 11th in rapid chess and 18th in blitz chess, all of which are positions much higher than the other players at the Leon Masters.

The highly anticipated final match between Le Quang Liem and Viswanathan Anand will take place at 9:30 pm tonight, July 6, Vietnam time.

Currently, Le Quang Liem is still a chess coach at Webster College in the US, and is also the director of the SPICE chess academy. He no longer competes regularly, only participating in a few tournaments each year to maintain his name on the FIDE rankings. Participating and advancing straight to the finals of the Leon Masters this time has once again affirmed the class and talent that has never faded of Vietnam's top chess player.

TUAN LONG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/le-quang-liem-gap-vua-co-chau-ao-chung-ket-leon-master-2025-20250706132114721.htm