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Grandmaster Le Quang Liem is unable to achieve victory in the playoff round. (Photo: FIDE) |
On the evening of August 7, Le Quang Liem faced off against Ruslan Ponomariov in a playoff round to establish the final result, given that the two players had previously played to a draw in two standard games.
During the first two rapid chess games, each lasting 25 minutes with an extra 10 seconds for every move, the two competitors displayed a closely contested match, resulting in both games concluding in a draw.
Subsequently, Le Quang Liem and Ruslan Ponomariov engaged in another two rapid chess games, each lasting 10 minutes with an additional 10 seconds granted for every move. In the initial match of this stage, despite having the advantage of the white pieces, Le Quang Liem encountered difficulties in achieving a favorable outcome, ultimately leading to his defeat against Ruslan Ponomariov. Progressing to the second game within this phase, Le Quang Liem, playing as black, exhibited a somewhat dominant performance against Ruslan Ponomariov. However, he was unable to secure a victory. This game concluded in a draw after 60 moves. Thus, with an overall score of 2.5 - 3.5 in favor of Ruslan Ponomariov, Le Quang Liem was eliminated from the tournament.
Coming to a halt at this stage, Le Quang Liem receives a reward of US$10,000. Yet, a notable aspect is that his Elo rating might face a deduction of approximately 6.8 points due to his defeat against an opponent with a lower Elo rating in the Chess World Cup 2023.
The Vietnamese chess contingent comprised four representatives at the Chess World Cup 2023: Le Quang Liem, Le Tuan Minh, Vo Thi Kim Phung, and Nguyen Thi Mai Hung. Regrettably, all of these players were eliminated from the tournament this year.
