Vietnamese GM Le Quang Liem wrapped up his Chessable Masters campaign as the runner-up pocketing US$15,000 in prize money, which is his most impressive performance so far this year.
After being defeated 0.5-2.5 by American Wesley So on the first day, Liem entered the second day of the final match early this morning (August 9) on the back foot.
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GM Le Quang Liem finishes as the runner-up at the Chessable Masters. |
The Vietnamese star delivered a fantastic start to the four-game Sunday competition winning the opening game and holding world No. 9 So to a draw in the second.
However, he could not make use of such a significant advantage to bring the final into a tie-break, losing the third game before being held by the US competitor in the fourth to settle for a 2-2 draw on Sunday and an overall defeat.
Despite missing out on his first stage victory in the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, Liem said that he was happy with what had given throughout the tournament. “This is perhaps my best performance over the past 1.5 years since the outbreak of Covid-19. I will try my best to secure a place in the Tour Finals.”
The second-place finish at the Chessable Masters has lifted Liem to 10th in the Champions Chess Tours rankings, the top eight of which are set to progress to the Tour Finals slated for September 25.
The Chessable Masters is the eighth stage of the 2021 Champions Chess Tour, a 10-month long series of 10 chess tournaments initiated by chess king Magnus Carlsen (Norway) and played online on Chess24.com.
It is very likely that Liem will be invited to play in the next (also the last) stage, set for August 28, to further improve his accumulation for a Tour Finals ticket.
As for Wesley So, the Chessable Masters title marks the third victory for the US star in the last four Champions Tour stages, all against chess king Magnus Carlsen of Norway.
Source: NDO
