No hope for Liem at UAE chess tourney
(VOV) - Hope has disappeared after GM Le Quang Liem was defeated by his Indian underdog Chanda Sandiphan at the Fujairah International Chess Championship on November 21.
With an improved Elo rating of 2707, the Vietnamese player, seeded No2 at the tournament, had been expected to overwhelm his Indian rival (Elo rating 2569) to advance to the title.
He was full of hope to vie for the trophy following his victory over Constantin Lupupescu of Romania one day earlier, and ranked second in the standings.
However, Liem did not take advantage of his higher ranking and was outplayed by Sandiphan in the last moves.
Liem now has five points after eight rounds and will take on Fedorchuk Sergey A of Ukraine who has a FIDE Elo rating of 2,652, in the final round on November 21.
The defeat means Liem has no chance to compete for the trophy.
The annual tournament is being held in Fujairah city of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from November 13-21 (local time).
This year’s event has attracted 58 players who all have Elo ratings of more than 2,200. The winner will receive a cash prize of US$15,000.