Quang Liem wins world number eight player
The number one player in Vietnam won his first match in the Tour Finals, a game early. He drew the first game and won the next two games to end the match with a 2.5-0.5 victory. Quang Liem won another 7,500 USD from this result, bringing his prize money at the final round to 10,000 USD. So, on the other hand, has lost both matches and hasn't earned the prize money yet.
So, holding the black piece, had the advantage of winning in the first game but could not take advantage of it, letting Quang Liem take a draw. In the second game, the Vietnamese player took the black piece, tried to bring the car down to the second row and created all the traps and won after 31 moves. The third game also had a similar scenario when Quang Liem took the white piece, bringing the car down to the seventh row with a better advantage. He created the endgame, pawn against the car, when the black king was prevented from approaching the white pawn. This time, the Filipino-American player did not surrender early, but let Quang Liem seal it and show it all in country 83.
This is the fifth time Quang Liem has met So in the Champions Chess Tour, and the first victory for the Vietnamese player. In the previous four matches, the 31-year-old player lost two and drew two. In particular, the two met in the final of Chessable Masters in August 2021, with a 1.5-0.5 victory for the 29-year-old player. The last time Quang Liem won against So in a board game was at the Grand Chess Tour in Bucharest, Romania in 2019.
These two players were teammates at Webster University, but while Quang Liem graduated with two degrees, So dropped out to become a professional player. Quang Liem is currently the Chess Coach of Webster School and Director of SPICE Academy, ranked 20th in the world. And So used to be number two in the world, and is ranked eighth. On November 8, the 29-year-old player won the online Global Chess Championship and received a bonus of up to 200,000 USD.
In the remaining three pairs of the second round of the Champions Chess Tour Finals, Carlsen also defeated Erigaisi Arjun in just three games, with a score of 2.5-0.5. Jan-Krzysztof Duda defeated Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2.5-1.5, and Anish Giri beat Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu 3.5-2.5.
After two rounds, Quang Liem is third with Giri with 10,000 USD in prize money. Carlsen and Duda lead with $15,000.
In the third round, taking place from 3:00 am on November 17, Hanoi time, Quang Liem met Praggnanandhaa. The remaining pairs are Carlsen - Mamedyarov, So - Erigaisi and Duda - Giri.
