Quang Liem lost to Carlsen in tie-break
On the morning of November 19, Hanoi time, Quang Liem entered the main match with the number one player Magnus Carlsen. In the first four quick games, the two players drew 2-2, where each player won one, drew two and lost a game. That meant Carlsen had to enter a blitz tie-break for the first time at the tournament, and lost his absolute winning record. Before that, he won all four matches from fast chess and received a full $ 30,000 in prize money.
In the tie-break, Quang Liem lost the first game but won the next game to bring the match into the mortal game "armageddon". The number one player in Vietnam holds a black piece, just a draw to win the match. But, he lost because he ran out of time, in a weaker position. As a result, Carlsen received an additional 5,000 USD, while Quang Liem pocketed 2,500 USD.
True to Grandmaster David Howell's assessment, Quang Liem surprised Carlsen. In the first quick game of chess, Carlsen took the white piece and chose the Spanish opening, Quang Liem exchanged the rear for the car and the code in the balance according to the computer's assessment. But the Norwegian player used the power of the queen to capture the black pawns and bring the white pawns down, respectively, to threaten the rank, and then won after 54 moves. It was also Carlsen's eighth consecutive win in the Tour Finals.
Quang Liem equalized the score in the second game, when he held white and chose the Catalan opening. This time, it was Carlsen's turn to lose money in exchange for cars and codes, falling into a losing position. Quang Liem made no mistake to make Carlsen lose the first game of the tournament, after a series of 14 games unbeaten.
After the third game drew in the balance, Quang Liem held the white piece in the last quick game but fell into a losing position at the end. The Vietnamese player lost a good one in the endgame of the same color, but Carlsen with his knack for "rhyming" could not subdue Quang Liem, making the match into a tie-break.
It seemed that the match would end early in the tie-break, when Carlsen took the white piece and won the first blitz game with two good wins in the endgame. But Quang Liem exchanged the rear for two cars in the second game of blitz, then combined the two white cars to bring the pawn down to threaten the rank. The number one player in Vietnam won after 42 moves, bringing the match to armageddon.
Carlsen held the white piece in the game of life and death, with five minutes of thinking, and Quang Liem had four minutes, the two sides did not have time to add after each move. The world's number one player benefits from the middle game, and then into the endgame of the horse fight. Quang Liem gradually went to weak countries and fell into a losing position, and the clock also ran out of time. He decided to apologize and the match ended after nearly five hours.
In the three matches of the fifth round, Wesley So beat Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 3-0, Erigaisi Arjun beat Anish Giri 2.5-0.5, and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu defeated Jan-Krzysztof Duda in armageddon.
In the sixth round, also the penultimate round, Quang Liem will meet Erigaisi. The remaining matches are Duda - So, Praggnanandhaa - Carlsen and Giri - Mamedyarov.
Champions Chess Tour is the world's largest online chess tournament system initiated by Carlsen. Tour 2022 has a bonus fund of 1.6 million USD, of which the final round has a total prize of 210,000 USD. The final round brings together eight high performing players of the season, in addition to the invited Wesley So. All eight players are in the Top 60 in the world, of which four are in the Top 15.
