Liem defeats UK top chess player
GM Le Quang Liem beat Michael Adams, a stronger opponent from the UK, to contribute to Vietnam’s 3-1 win in the 9th round of the World Chess Olympiad in Turkey on September 7.
- Quang Liem continues to shine in 8th round of World Chess
This is considered a relief after the team’s unconvincing performance against a number of underdogs in the previous rounds.
The two players started the game cautiously until the 40th move when Adams made a grave mistake, opening up chances for Liem to breakdown his rival’s defense.
The Vietnamese player then pressed very hard and forced his opponent to give up after the 47th move.
The victory earned Liem 5.4 more Elo points to raise his total Elo points for the tournament to 15.4 and jumped 14 positions to place 39th in the 2700chess.com ratings.
Meanwhile, Adams was deducted three Elo points for losing to lower ranking opponents.
Born in 1971, Adams is the UK’s most successful player, once number 4 in the world, and has played in numerous semi-finals in many international competitions.
Meanwhile, IM Nguyen Van Huy unexpectedly trounced GM David Howell after 63 moves with his blistering attacks and bagged 5.1 more Elo points.
GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son and IM Nguyen Duc Hoa were both held to draws against GM Nigel Short and Nicholas Pert.
The Vietnamese triumphs helped the team rise to 16th place and pushed the UK down to number 32 in the tournament.
Vietnam's men's team will face a tough challenge in their next matches against the Philippines, which also thrashed the UK 3-1 in the 8th round.
Unfortunately, the Vietnamese women suffered a 1.5-2.5 loss to Germany.
Hoang Thi Nhu Y beat Elena Levushkina and Pham Le Thao Nguyen drew against Elisabeth Paehtz, but Nguyen Thi Mai Hung and Le Kieu Thien Kim were both defeated by their opponents.
The women's team is scheduled to play Georgia in the 10th round.