Top Vietnamese player bags another silver in continental chess championships

Vietnamese Grandmaster Le Quang Liem (L) had a very successful tournament with a gold and a silver at the Asian Continental Chess Championships 2019 in Xingtai, China.

Blitz chess is considered Liem's forte as he won the world championship title in 2013. At that time, Liem’s Elo was over 2800 and was in the top 5 in the world.

However, in recent years, the 1991-born has failed to compete in this content had lost a lot of his Elo rating. Before competing in the blitz chess category at this year’s Asian Continental Chess Championships, Liem's Elo was at only 2674.

However, as he was motivated by the first Asian individual title in standard chess, Liem competed impressively in the blitz chess event. After nine games, the Ho Chi Minh City native won six, drew two and lost only one, gaining seven points, only one point behind the champion Nihal Sarin from India (Elo 2654).

The runner-up position helps Liem earn an additional of six Elo points to improve his Elo in blitz chess to 2680.

In the women's side, the 2017 Asian champion Vo Thi Kim Phung Vietnamese unexpectantly won the silver medal with 6.5 points after six wins, one draw and two losses, adding 12 points to her Elo.

At the end of the tournament, the Vietnamese chess team won one gold and two silver medals.

Held by the Asian Chess Federation and the Chinese Chess Association, the 2019 Asian Continental Championships took place from June 6 to 16 in Xingtai, China's Hebei province, with the top 5 qualify for the 2019 World Cup.

Source: VNA