Le Quang Liem lost the right to self-determination in the Biel Chess Festival championship race

On the penultimate day of competition ending early this morning (July 26), Le Quang Liem (elo 2,728) drew with French player Jules Moussard (elo 2,654). This was the match where Vietnam's number 1 player held the white pieces (went first) and launched an active offensive move, creating a slight advantage over his French opponent.

Le Quang Liem (right) drew with Jules Moussard

With one more pawn than his opponent, Le Quang Liem tried his best to defeat Jules Moussard, but the French player also played with great concentration and neutralized the Vietnamese player's moves. Unable to defeat his opponent in the endgame, Le Quang Liem had to accept a draw after 81 moves of intense mental battle.

The French player struggled to defend against the attack created by Le Quang Liem.

With this draw, Le Quang Liem accumulated 1.5 more points to have a total of 31 points. In the same match, Vincent Keymer (Germany) defeated Bassem Amin (Egypt), thereby achieving a total of 31.5 points and occupying the top position in the rankings. Player David Navara (Czech Republic) ranked third with 29 points.

Le Quang Liem accepted to share points with Jules Moussard and focused on the deciding match taking place tonight.

The race for the Biel Chess Festival 2023 championship title is only between Le Quang Liem, Vincent Keymer and David Navara. Vincent Keymer has the advantage as he only needs to beat Arjun Erigaisi (India) to be crowned champion without having to care about the results of the other two opponents. Le Quang Liem and David Navara faced each other directly but lost the right to decide the championship. Quang Liem won the championship when he beat David Navara while Vincent Keymer could not beat Arjun Erigaisi. Vietnam's No. 1 chess player also has a chance to win the championship when he draws with David Navara and Vincent Keymer loses to Arjun Erigaisi. Meanwhile, David Navara can only win the championship when he wins Le Quang Liem and Vincent Keymer loses to Arjun Erigaisi.

Biel Chess Festival standings before the decisive match day:

At the Biel Chess Festival 2023, Le Quang Liem competed in the Grand Master Triathlon category with 3 events: rapid chess (win 2 points, draw 1 point), blitz chess (win 1 point, draw 0.5 points) and standard chess (win 4 points, draw 1.5 points). This is the most difficult and attractive competition category of the tournament because it requires players to compete comprehensively in all 3 events.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/le-quang-liem-mat-quyen-tu-quyet-o-cuoc-dua-vo-dich-festival-co-vua-biel-185230726064753891.htm