Known as the King of Chess due to his top position in the world’s rankings for the past 11 years, Carlsen is the reigning five-time World Chess Champion.
The 1990 born Norwegian chess grandmaster holds the highest Elo rating in the chess world at 2,864. In addition, Carlsen has won many prestigious chess awards.
In the three previous encounters with Carlsen, Liem only managed to earn one draw and two losses. But this time, not only did the Vietnamese player win a game, he won 2 rapid games against his top opponent.
Before facing Carlsen on the 2nd day of the world's first fully in-person chess esports event, Liem had an unimpressive opener as he lost to the world’s 9th ranked player Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan). However, on the second day, he claimed a spectacular victory against chess king Carlsen.
Le Quang Liem (left) plays against the reigning world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen at the Oslo Esports Cup in Norway early April 24, 2022. (Photo: CHESS24)
In the first game, Liem was at a disadvantage playing black but the Vietnamese top chess player suddenly defeated Carlsen after 39 moves.
However, this victory was somewhat lucky because the chess king made a big mistake that led to Liem eating the queen and forcing Carlsen to admit defeat.
Liem holding white continued to play well and earned a draw with Carlsen in game 2 after 50 moves.
In game 3, Carlsen won quite quickly against Liem after 34 moves to equalise the score at 1.5 - 1.5.
In the decisive game 4, Liem had the advantage of playing white. The Ho Chi Minh City player thought that he would be under pressure after losing in game 3, but Liem played confidently and gradually pressed the game, causing the reigning world No. 1 to accept defeat and give a thumbs up to congratulate his opponent.
Le Quang Liem defeats chess king Magnus Carlsen for the first time ever after 16 encounters. (Photo: CHESS24)
The historic victory over Carlsen with a score of 2.5 - 1.5 grants Liem his first 3 points in the tournament with a bonus of 7,500 USD.
On the third day of the competition, which took place late tonight, Liem will face India’s young grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, 16, who is leading the tournament with two victories.
Liem is in 4th place after two matches. If he plays properly, Liem can become a favourite for the championship.
The Oslo Esports Cup has gathered eight players including Carlsen (Norway), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan), Anish Giri (Netherlands), Duda (Poland), Jorden van Foreest (Netherlands), Praggnanandhaa (India), Eric Hansen (Canada), and Vietnam’s Le Quang Liem.
The players gathered in Oslo to compete, but in an online form on the computer, not in person, sitting facing each other on the chessboard.
They play in a round-robin format, with each match featuring four rapid games. If there is a draw, they will play blitz to determine the winner.
The 210,000 USD all-play-all event is being played over seven days at chess24.com's esports arena in Oslo and is the first online chess tournament of its kind. The winner of each match will walk away with 7,500 USD (in the event of a blitz the winner receives 5,000 USD, while the loser receives 2,500 USD).
