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.
