In the early hours of May 18 (Vietnam time), Vietnamese chess grandmaster Le Quang Liem played his remaining matches at the DreamHack Atlanta 2026 online chess tournament held in the United States.
Starting from the quarterfinals, the Vietnamese grandmaster defeated Ukrainian player Oleksandr Bortnyk 1-0 to secure a place in the semifinals.
In the semifinal round, however, Le Quang Liem lost 0-1 to Serbian grandmaster Alexey Sarana and moved into the lower bracket.
There, he bounced back strongly by defeating Russian grandmaster Andrey Esipenko 2-0. However, in a rematch against Alexey Sarana, the Vietnamese player fell short again, losing 0.5-1.5.
Le Quang Liem ultimately finished third overall at DreamHack Atlanta 2026, a tournament featuring 32 players. His result earned him one of four qualification spots for the Esports World Cup 2026.
The Esports World Cup 2026 is scheduled to take place in Saudi Arabia from July 6 to August 23. According to organizers, the event will feature competitions in 24 esports titles, with chess included as an official discipline played on computers.
This marks the first time Le Quang Liem has officially qualified for the Esports World Cup.
