Liem booked his place in the last eight following consecutive wins against Kamil Plichta (Poland), Jaime Santos Latasa (Spain) and Ray Robson (US) in the Group B qualifying campaign.

Top Vietnamese chess player Le Quang Liem.

Alongside Benjamin Bok, the Vietnamese player is joined by seven other group winners, including Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Poland), Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (India), Ivan Cheparinov (Bulgaria), Adhiban Baskaran (India), Kirill Shevchenko (Ukraine), and Egvenij Miroshnichenko (Ukraine), in the quarterfinals.

The quarterfinal pairing is decided by the eight players’ standard Elo rating, with third-ranked Le Quang Liem (Elo 2,709) meeting sixth-ranked Benjamin Bok (Elo 2,624).

A victory will see the Vietnamese star through to the semifinals where he will play either Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (Elo 2,726) or Kirill Shevchenko (Elo 2,605).

The winner of the Banter Blitz Cup will get to choose to compete in the next stage of the Champions Chess Tour 2021 (July 31-August 8) or the San Fermin Mundial knockout tournament (July 13-14). Meanwhile, the runner-up is eligible for the remaining event.

The Banter Blitz Cup 2021 is being held online by Chess24.com. In its first version last year (Banter Series 2020), Le Quang Liem advanced to the semifinals but then lost to Wesley So (US). However, he still clinched a place in the Skilling Open rapid chess tournament – the first stop of the 2021 Champions Chess Tour.

Quang Liem has played in two stages of the US$1.5 million 2021 Champions Chess Tour thus far, with his best performance a quarterfinal berth at the Chess Classic, in late April, where he was ousted by Hikaru Nakamura (US).

Vietnam to host competition for int’l chess Grandmasters for first time

The 2021 Grand Ho Tram Chess Tournament is set to take place from March 10-17 at The Grand Ho Tram complex in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

Vietnamese player beats former world champion in Chess Olympiad for people with disabilities

Vietnamese chess player Nguyen Van Quan defeated former world champion Indian Shashikant Kutwal in the first Online Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities on November 23.

Vietnamese chess star Le Quang Liem competes against 15 top players at Skilling Open

Vietnamese grandmaster Le Quang Liem is joining 15 other leading players in the Skilling Open rapid chess tournament being played on Chess24 between November 22 and 30.

Host Bac Giang ranks second at National Youth Traditional Chess Championships

(BGO) – A ceremony was held on November 8 at the Bac Giang provincial Conventional Hall to close the National Youth Traditional Chess Championships 2020 by Vietnam Sports Administration, Vietnam Traditional Chess Federation and Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism in the province. 

56 sets of medals awarded to rapid and blitz chess at national youth chess championships

(BGO) - The Organization Board of the National Youth Chess Championships 2020 on November 3 awarded the prize to the excellent players in rapid and blitz chess contents at the Bac Giang provincial Conventional Hall. 

Source: NDO