Chess grandmaster Le Quang Liem has made a leap in world rankings, jumping 18 notches to No. 32nd place, thanks to his champion title at the US annual SPICE Cup Open.

After coming home empty-handed after the 2015 Asian Championship, Liem marked his impressive comeback in recent times. At the FIDE World Chess Cup 2015, he entered Round 3 and received a US$16,000 bonus.

In early October, Vietnam’s No. 1 chess player gave an impressive performance with an unbeaten chain to win the right to play the final match of the Millionaire Chess Tournament. He won the second prize after losing to Nakamura, receiving a US$50,000 prize – the biggest bonus earned by a Vietnamese sports athlete in international competition so far.

Following the success, Liem continued to show his impressive form in the SPICE Cup with five wins and four draws, earning seven points after nine games played to claim the champion. This is the 2nd time in his career Liem won the highest rated international invitational tournament in the US, after winning the championship in 2011 and being the runner-up in 2012.

Though reward for the SPICE Cup champion is only US$5,000, Liem was granted pretty big elo points (21.2 elo). According to the newly updated charts on www.2700chess.com, the Ho Chi Minh City-born player climbed 18 spots to the world's No. 32 with elo points of 2718.2. Surely, Vietnam’s No.1 chess player is approaching his target of resuming a place in the world’s top 30 players.

Skipping the FIDE World Blitz & Rapid Championships for Millionaire Chess Tournament, Liem added zero points to his ranking for rapid chess, dropping one place from No. 13 to No. 14 with elo of 2770.0. In blitz chess, he maintained the world No. 10 place with elo of 2799.0.

Liem currently is the Vietnamese chess player earning the highest titles in international competitions so far. With the SPICE Cup title, he extended records for major international titles, including the top-class events and the professional leagues, up to number 11. Of these, in addition to the throne in the U14 World  

Youth Chess Championship in 2005, his brightest feat is the World Blitz Chess Champion in 2013, the year in which he also secured the Asian blitz gold medal.

Liem is also the first ever chess master to win the Aeroflot Open two years in a row in 2010 and 2011.

Experts expect that the actual strength of the 1991 born chess player is on par with top 20.

Nhan Dan