The Ho Chi Minh City native boasts an Elo score of 2740 and ranks 15th in the world, meaning he was able to join the competition starting from the second round.

Liem faced Ivan Ivanisevic of Serbia who has an Elo of 2536 in the second round of the tournament. The Serbian player forced the Vietnamese representative to a draw after 57 moves.

Moving forward, he will meet Ivan Ivanisevic again in the second leg of the second round held on the evening of August 3. Liem was the only Vietnamese chess player to compete among the global tournament’s second round.

This comes after his teammates were disqualified from the tournament. In the first round Le Tuan Minh, Elo of 2557, lost out to Vugar Asadli of the hosts Azerbaijan, Elo of 2567.

Polish player Michalina Rudzinska, Elo of 2257, defeated Vo Thi Kim Phung, Elo of 2351 after two rapid chess games. In addition, Nguyen Thi Mai Hung recorded two losing games in standard event.

The FIDE World Cup 2023 is taking place from July 30 to August 24 in Azerbaijan, drawing with it the participation of 206 players. It represents the 10th edition of the tournament and its top three will qualify for the 2024 Candidates tournament. Total prizes are worth up to US$2.5 million.

Liem was the only Vietnamese player to progress through to the fourth round of the FIDE World Cup in 2013 and 2019.

Source: VOV