Quang Liem won the Super Grandmaster at Biel Grandmaster

Quang Liem (Elo 2,728) played white against Indian player Erigaisi (2,710) in a standard four-game match. Black actively closed the center in the opening, but Quang Liem found a way to break the symmetrical pawn structure to create a strong pair of pawns in the center. This advantage was soon converted into victory by Vietnam's number one player after 42 moves, as Erigaisi could not avoid losing his knight.

Le Quang Liem (left) before the match with Arjun Erigaisi at the fourth round of Biel Grandmaster, Switzerland on July 21, 2022

Erigaisi is considered a young talent, when he surpassed the 2,700 Elo mark in his teens. His Elo in July 2023 reached 2,710, the same level as Quang Liem. This is the first time Quang Liem has defeated a Super Grandmaster in Standard chess, since his victory over Sam Shankland at the Prague Masters in June 2022.

After four standard games at the Biel Grandmaster, Quang Liem won three and lost one. His only loss came in the third round, when he played black against German number one Vincent Keymer. After beating second seed Quang Liem, Keymer went on to defeat first seed Du Uong Y (2,735) to take sole possession of the top spot.

On the scoreboard, including the seven completed rapid games, Keymer has 21 points. Quang Liem is third with 17 points, 1.5 points less than David Navara. But if only counting the standard chess content, the 2018 HD Bank champion leads with 12 points.

Quang Liem is the reigning Biel Grandmaster, but is only the second seed this year. The average Elo rating of the eight players competing this year is 2,699, with seven of them being or having been Super Grandmasters. The players compete in three categories: standard, rapid and blitz to earn points for the championship.

Today, July 22, the tournament will have 14 blitz chess games, each game wins one point, a draw half a point, from 7:00 p.m., Hanoi time.

According to VnExpress