Aeroflot champ Liem wants to be No 1

Le Quang Liem (C) is gifted with teddy bears and flowers by fans on his return to Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City on February 21, 2010

Grandmaster Le Quang Liem of Vietnam, who defended his championship title at the 2011 Aeroflot Open last week in Russia, returned home to a warm welcome at Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City Monday.

The 20-year-old player had an interview with local media.

What are your targets this year?

They are to take part in some elite chess tournaments including the Dortmund Sparkassen event in Germany in July, World Cup in Russia in August, and the 26th SEA Games in Indonesia in November.

In addition, I will also join some other international tournaments wearing the jerseys of Germany’s Bremen chess club in March, France’s Every Grand Roque in April and China’s Qingdao Yucai in June.

I target to lift up my Elo ratings to 2,700 this year. [Now, his is 2,689.]

And other long-term targets?

It is to take my Elo ratings to the world’s top 30 and 20 and the number one in the world.

I have another task of completing my university program. I am now a freshman of finance and banking at the Saigon University.

Is it a trouble to follow at the same time two targets?

I take all my free time from chess competition for my banking studies. It’s difficult but I will improve.

What kind of support do you need from local and central sports departments to improve your world rankings?

I’ve met difficulties in legal documents to travel abroad for competition. I wish to have an official passport [granted to government officials on overseas missions], instead of ordinary passport to facilitate my travel.

For example, while competing at the Tata Steel chess tournament held last month in the Netherlands, coach Lam Minh Chau and I had to travel far away to another city for our visas to enter Russia as the Russian Embassy in Vietnam was on holiday for the Lunar New Year festival.

It would not cost that much time with an official passport.

How is your chess training now?

I mainly learn chess by competing with rivals on the Internet as no coach or expert in Vietnam is qualified to train a grandmaster.

What do you plan to do on your birthday on March 13?

As previous years, I celebrate it with my family and friends.

The Vietnamese government has given financial support to Liem for overseas competition. As for international open tournaments, Ho Chi Minh City Sports Department is in charge of covering costs for his competition trips. Other events like the Olympic Games, Asian Games and Sea Games, Vietnam Chess Federation will cover his expenses.

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Liem eager to play for German team

HA NOI — International Grand Master (IGM) Le Quang Liem has agreed to compete for Germany's Bremen chess club from next month, Liem's father Le Quynh confirmed yesterday.

Liem, 20, will leave for Germany for March 18-19 following the signing of a two-month contract with the Bremen club, allowing Liem to compete in the German Chess tournament.

The HCM City-born grandmaster will receive payment from US$700-1,400 for each game he plays, excluding win bonuses, accommodation and air tickets.

"Liem was offered a contract by a Spanish chess club after he won the Russian International Chess Festival – Aeroflot Open in Moscow last week, but he previously signed with Bremen and French team Evry Grand Roque. Chinese Qingdao Yucai also invited Liem to play in the China's Chess League Division A, however, the agreement has yet to finalised," Quynh told Viet Nam News yesterday.

As the German Chess tournament is played monthly, the HCM City's player can travel forth and back between Viet Nam and Germany according to the German fixtures.

The 20-year-old will also play for the Evry Grand Roque Club in the French Chess League Top 16 this June when athletes will finish their match in a nine-game format over two weeks.

The International Grand Master is the first player to win the Aeroflot Open twice in a row, which has earned him an elo rate of 2,689 in March's World Chess Federation (FIDE) rankings and a place in the world top 50.

"It's not the first time a Vietnamese player has competed abroad. Over the past years, Vietnamese players have played for Chinese teams on short-term contracts," said the Viet Nam Chess Federation (VCF)'s vice chairman and general secretary Dang Tat Thang.

"A clutch of top athletes including Le Thanh Tu, Hoang Thi Bao Tram, Dao Thien Hai and Pham Le Thao Nguyen have played for Chinese teams. They both improved their skills and income from competitions abroad," Thang said.

He also added the federation always gave the green light to chess players wanting to compete for foreign clubs.

Liem was conferred the International Grand Master title following the Chess Olympiad in Turin in 2006.

The IGM said he had to overcome the pressure of his new found success to improve his world rankings at international tournaments this year.

Liem, who is a first year student at the Finance and Bank faculty of HCM City University, has to arrange time between his college studies and competitions.

Last year, Liem grabbed a silver medal at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China. — VNS

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Three preliminary jobs before Liem excels at world chess

Le Quang Liem

After brilliantly defending his title at the Aeroflot Open 2011 in Russia last week, grandmaster Le Quang Liem has become a prominent figure in a long-term plan of Vietnam to propel him to the world’s top spot in the future.

Ranking 79th in the world with an Elo rating of 2,664 in the January’s table, the 20-year-old player is estimated to have lifted himself up to an Elo of 2,689 after clinching the title and may surge to the top 40 at this month’s table, to be released soon.

Vietnam Chess Federation Deputy-General Secretary Nguyen Phuoc Trung sent Tuoi Tre a letter explaining the three preliminary jobs that must be accomplished before Liem can dream the impossible dream of becoming the World Chess champion.

First of all, Liem must make an unequivocal decision either to enter the professional sporting career with chess or to go on with his study, as he is a freshman of finance and banking at Saigon University at the moment.

Given the fact that all top-rated sportsmen in the world are professionals, it seems unlikely that Liem can take on both chess and study and excel in either of them, Trung said.

Becoming a professional, Liem will have time to map out a strategic route for training and competition. He can decide which tournament to enter to accumulate knowledge, which one to take to test his new chess strategies and which one to win to hike up his Elo points.

“I believe Liem will have a bright future at the Chess World Cup in 2013 if he chooses to enter the professional sports,” Trung writes in the letter.

Secondly, Liem’s bright future in world chess, however, depends on how the government of Vietnam plans and implements the “national strategy of investment” for Liem.

Vietnam has long struggled to better its status in world sports. Its goal, nevertheless, is simply to get out of the “under-developed zone”, never to reach the top spot and dominate the international world of sports.

It is clear that in the world of professional sports, individual effort alone is never enough to take an athlete to the top position. In Liem’s case, it requires a lot of national support and a careful “national investment plan.”

That is, Trung said, sports leaders of Vietnam should assist with a suitable strategy to help Liem develop his chess talent and scale the height of his sporting career.

Last but not the least is the question of money.

Liem needs all the help of qualified trainers and assisting staff he can get in his daily training and competition.

“He needs money to develop into a world-class player, as we can’t ask him to win all the tournaments he takes part in and use the prize money to cover for all the costs he incurred,” Trung concluded.

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Quang Liem leads Aeroflot Open chess tournament

Grandmaster Le Quang Liem

Vietnamese grandmaster Le Quang Liem, 20, made excellent performances at the international elite chess tournament Aeroflot Open 2011 in Russia for gaining complete victories at four opening rounds.

Remarkably, the defending champion Liem with Elo rating of 2,664 beat the number 1 seed and world blitz chess champion, Gata Kamsky of the US at the fourth round on Friday.

He had beaten GM Luka Lenic of Slovenia, Deshun Xiu of China, and GM Andrey Zhigalko of Belarus in the three first rounds.

Liem is now the solo leader on the table with four points and is scheduled to meet GM Evgeny Tomashevsky of Russia in the fifth round today. He is followed by two Russian grandmasters Mikhail Kobalia and Evgeny Tomashevsky, each with 3.5 points after four rounds.

The Aeroflot Open 2011 is organized in Moscow from February 7 – 18. This year, it is open to chess players of most varied qualification, from unrated to having a very high rating and separated in A, B, and C categories.

The festival has the prize fund amounting to EUR160,000 (US$217,000).

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Vietnamese master defends crown

Le Quang Liem is on track to defend his title at the Russian International Chess Festival Aeroflot Open in Moscow.

Liem won his first round match over Andrey Zhigalko of Bulgaria on
Feb. 8 and will meet Chinese Xiu Deshun who beat Romain Edouard of
France next round.

Liem's strongest rivals include six
international super grandmasters and eight international grandmasters,
including Gata Kamsky of the US , Sergei Movsesian of Armnia, Dmitry
Jakovenko of Russia and Maxime Vachier Lagrave of France .

Competitors range from unrated to highly rated taking part in three
open tournaments, each of which is a nine-round Swiss event.

Liem is among 130 candidates in tournament A, the highest level,
competing for a bonus of 20,000 euros (29,300 USD) for the title winner
who also will be entitled to participate in a round-robin Super
Tournament in Dortmund in the second half of July.

There will also be prizes for the best performance among seniors, women
and juniors in all tournaments and a prize for the best result by an
unrated player in tournament C.

The festival will conclude on February 17.

Liem has recently announced that he will be competing for three foreign teams this year.

Liem is the world No 79 will represent Germany 's Bremen at the
German Clubs Cup, Evry Grand Roque at the French Chess League Top 16 and
Chinese Qingdao Yucai at China 's Chess League Division A in March,
April and June, respectively.

The HCM City-born master is first ever Vietnamese chess master to play for foreign clubs.

Liem will later take part in the World Chess Championships in Khanty
Mansiysk in Russia from August 20 to September 15 and the 26th
Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia in November.

Liem whose ELO rating of 2,664 is aiming to break into the top 40 with an ELO rating of over 2,700 in 2011./.

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Master defends crown

Making his move: Vietnamese chess master Le Quang Liem on his way to winning his first match at the Aeroflot Open tournament in Moscow. — VNA/VNS Photo

HA NOI – Le Quang Liem is on track to defend his title at the Russian International Chess Festival Aeroflot Open in Moscow.

Liem won his first round match over Andrey Zhigalko of Bulgaria on Tuesday and will meet Chinese Xiu Deshun who beat Romain Edouard of France next round.

Liem's strongest rivals include six international super grandmasters and eight international grandmasters, including Gata Kamsky of the US, Sergei Movsesian of Armnia, Dmitry Jakovenko of Russia and Maxime Vachier Lagrave of France.

Competitors range from unrated to highly rated taking part in three open tournaments, each of which is a nine-round Swiss event.

Liem is among 130 candidates in tournament A, the highest level, competing for a bonus of 20,000 euros (US$29,300) for the title winner who also will be entitled to participate in a round-robin Super Tournament in Dortmund in the second half of July.

There will also be prizes for the best performance among seniors, women and juniors in all tournaments and a prize for the best result by an unrated player in tournament C.

The festival will conclude on February 17

Liem has recently announced that he will be competing for three foreign teams this year.

Liem is the world No 79 will represent Germany's Bremen at the German Clubs Cup, Evry Grand Roque at the French Chess League Top 16 and Chinese Qingdao Yucai at China's Chess League Division A in March, April and June, respectively.

The HCM City-born master is first ever Vietnamese chess master to play for foreign clubs.

Liem will later take part in the World Chess Championships in Khanty Mansiysk in Russia from August 20 to September 15 and the 26th Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia in November.

Liem whose ELO rating of 2,664 is aiming to break into the top 40 with an ELO rating of over 2,700 in 2011. — VNS

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Vietnam masters lose at HDBank 2011 chessfest

Le Quang Liem

Photo: Tuoi Tre

Top-seed Le Quang Liem and second-seed Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son failed to win top prizes at the HDBank 2011 chess tournament, which wrapped up Sunday in Ho Chi Minh City’s Rex Hotel.

After nine matches, these grandmasters each earned 6.5 points and were ranked at 4th and 5th respectively. They were awarded $1,500 each.

“They are considered top contenders for the championship so are under great pressure. In addition, their rivals are all excited to compete with them because they think it’s an honor to defeat the top-seeds and nothing to lose if they fail,” Vietnamese chess coach Lam Minh Chau said.

Grandmaster Yu Yangyi from China with 7 points won the championship title with a cash prize of $6,000 while his fellowman Wen Yang contented with the second prize of $4,000.

Meanwhile in the women single, Vietnamese chess player Nguyen Thi Mai Huong secured the top prize with 4.5 points after nine matches and was awarded cash prize of $600.

The organizers also awarded two “Promising Young Chess Player” prizes to Le Thanh Tai of Vietnam and Lu Shanglei of China.

The week-long tournament has attracted 30 Vietnamese players and 35 others from China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand and Ukraine.

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Viet Nam optimistic over ASIAD medal chances

by Tien Thanh

Golden opportunity: Nguyen Thi Thanh An will be a leading player in the women's chess division at the Asian Games in China.

HCM CITY — The Vietnamese chess team has a good chance to win a medal at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China next week, thanks to Le Quang Liem's impressive performance.

The chess team will attend the Games with 11 members, including six male players. Along with Liem, there will be Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, Nguyen Duc Hoa, Nguyen Huynh Minh Huy and Cao Sang.

The female members are Hoang Thi Bao Tram, Pham Le Thao Nguyen, Nguyen Thi Thanh An, Nguyen Thi Mai Hung and Nguyen Thi Tuong Van.

"Because this is the biggest sports event in Asia and only four sets of medals are up for grabs, it will be a fierce competition," said Lam Minh Chau, head coach of the chess team attending the Games.

"With the recent impressive performances from Son and Liem, however, Viet Nam can hope for a medal or a good result, with a little bit of luck," Chau said, adding that China and India were the chief obstacles.

HCM City-based and 19-year-old Liem will carry the biggest hope for the country's first chess gold medal.

Liem won the prestigious Aeroflot Open chess tournament in March and shared the first place at Moscow Open, then finish second at the Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting, an elite chess tournament.

He reached semi-final at the Cap D'Agde rapid chess tournament in France last month.

"It is difficult to say anything in advance but I will try my best to bring home our first gold medal in chess," the world No 44 and international grand master, Liem, said.

It would be quite an achievement for Liem, who will be making his debut at the Asian Games next week, if he can win a medal.

Another hope is IGM Truong Son, who has had a rather impressive year.

Son finished third at the Aeroflot Open and took second place at the Biel Chess Festival.

He recorded an impressive victory over former world champion Russian Anatoly Karpov at the Cap D'Agde tournament.

Both Liem and Son play in the men's individual rapid and the team's traditional chess events.

The team will arrive in Guangzhou next Wednesday. — VNS

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Chess player wins world silver

Young master Nguyen Thi Mai Hung brought home a silver medal from the
World Youth Chess Championships in Helkidiki , Greece .

The Bac Giang-born girl finished second in the girl's U16 category with
8.5 points after 11 matches, finishing level with gold medal winner
Nastassia Ziaziukina of Belarus , but losing out on sub-criteria.

The bronze went to Lisa Schut of the Netherlands .

Hung also pocketed an individual gold and a team silver medal at the
Asian Youth Chess Championships held in China in July.

Her senior, Hoang Thi Nhu Y, added a bronze for Vietnam in the
girl's U18 category. Y had a slow start to the competition but came
through strongly in the latter half of the tournament to finish on eight
points.

The gold and silver medals went to Kazimova Marmin Nizami of Azerbaijan and Cori Deysi of Peru respectively.

In the boy's competition , former world U8 champion Tran Minh Thang
finished 25th in the U10 pool and his brother could only manage 11th in
the U14 class./.

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Master Liem ranked 40th

HCM CITY — Grand Master Le Quang Liem's recent successes have propelled him 14 spots higher in the World Chess Federation's latest rankings released early this month.

With an Elo rating of 2694, Viet Nam's top player is now in the 40th place, the highest ranking achieved by a chess player so far. Magnus Carlsen of Norway is the world's top-ranked player with a rating of 2826.

Liem's remarkable success at the Sparkassen Chess Meet that took place in Dortmund, Germany in July.

Liem came in second in his debut at the super-tournament, which featured five world-class players – former World Chess Champion Vladimir Kramnik (World No 4), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (6), Ruslan Ponomariov (14), Peter Leko (16), and Arkadij Naiditsch (51).

Liem was the top seed at the 2010 Asian Chess championship held in the Philippines in April, where he earned a ticket to the World Chess Championships next month in Italy.

The HCM City-based grand master, who is just 19, had in March become the first Vietnamese player to enter the top 50 in world rankings when he reached 42, winning the prestigious Aeroflot Open that featured 75 grandmasters and five international masters.

He had then slipped to 55th place before the latest surge. — VNS

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Young stars raise profile of Vietnam chess

Vietnamese chess star Le Quang Liem

Photo: Tuoi Tre

Vietnamese chess has won international esteem following recent victories by its players at world-class tournaments.

Le Quang Liem, 19, became the first Southeast Asian to win the Aeroflot Open in Moscow earlier this year, widely regarded as the world's most difficult open chess event.

As a result, the world no. 55 qualified for the category-20 Sparkassen Chess-Meeting tournament in Dortmund, Germany, where he finished second behind Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine.

Truong Son, ranked 157th in the world, tied for third place at the Aeroflot Open and finished first along with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France and Fabiano Caruana of Italy in the top section of the Biel International Chess Festival in Switzerland that included many of the world’s best young players.

Last December the Vietnamese women's chess team won the Asian championship while the men's team placed second. In 2008 seven-year-old Tran Minh Thang became the world under-8 champion.

The chairman of the Vietnam Chess Federation, Dang Tat Thang, said the government spends US$3 million a year to promote the game which includes players' travel expenses to domestic and international events.

This is less than a quarter of the investment made in football, the nation’s favorite sport.

But football and other popular sports like volleyball and tennis have never brought glory to Vietnam even at the Asian level.

Between 500 and 700 young players around the country train for chess, getting a monthly stipend of $300 plus room and board, according to the Ukrainian-born coach of the national team, Mikhail Vasyliev.

While investment in and rewards from a sport clearly make a difference, many hope that chess will become more popular in Vietnam since it is one sport where Vietnamese are doing well.

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New York Times praises Vietnam’s young chess stars

Vietnamese chess star Le Quang Liem

The New York Times has hailed the recent performances of Vietnam’s two top chess players, Le Quang Liem and Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son.

“Now, the two players… have joined the ranks of the world’s elite with a series of impressive finishes,” Dylan Loeb McClain says in a story dated July 31, asking “could the emergence of world-class chess players be a sign of a country’s economic progress?”

Liem, ranked No. 55 in the world, “tied for first at the Moscow Open in February and followed that up by taking a clear first at the Aeroflot Open.”

“That qualified him for the category-20 Sparkassen Chess-Meeting tournament in Dortmund, Germany, one of the world’s elite events.” There the 19-year-old finished second behind Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine.

“But he was the only player to beat Ponomariov.”

Son, ranked No. 157 in the world, tied for third at the Aeroflot Open in Moscow and finished first along with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France and Fabiano Caruana of Italy in the top section of the Biel International Chess Festival in Switzerland which included many of the world’s best young players.

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Players prepare for Olympiad in Russia

HA NOI — Viet Nam's best chess players are ready for the Chess Olympiad 2010 in Khanty Mansiysk, Russia from September 19 to October 4, reported Viet Nam Chess Federation general secretary Dang Tat Thang yesterday.

The competitors include International Grand Masters Le Quang Liem, who finished second at the Sparkassen Chess Meeting, Dortmund, last month, Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, Dao Thien Hai, Nguyen Anh Dung, Nguyen Duc Hoa, and the women Hoang Thi Bao Tram, Hoang Thi Nhu Y, Nguyen Thi Mai Hung, Nguyen Thi Thanh An and Pham Le Thao Nguyen.

"The team includes both veterans and youth," said the general secretary. "It will give the young the chance to gain experience and skills.

"The team's aim is to finish in the top 20 of the more than 160 countries taking part in the tournament."

The tournament will also be an opportunity for the Vietnamese players to test themselves against such Asian rivals as China, India, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Qatar and the Philippines in preparation for the Asian Games in China in November.

It is the 39th edition of the Olympiad and follows the Dresden Chess Olympiad 2008 and precedes the Chess Olympiad 2012 in Turkey.

Viet Nam sent four players, Liem, Son, Hai and Nguyen Van Huy, to Dresden where they finished ninth ahead of such countries as India, Germany, Bulgaria and England.

The German Chess Federation sent six of its best players to contest friendly tournaments in Viet Nam during April. — VNS

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