Vietnamese chess grandmaster wins Swiss title

Esipenko, who played white, had no choice but to win this game to surpass Liem on the overall standing. Although the Russian GM got a little advantage in the midgame, Liem held up well to bring the game to balance. At one point, Esipenko spent 50 minutes but still could not find the winning move.

After 42 moves, Liem offered Esipenko a draw and he accepted. The two players stayed and discussed the key moments in the game for 10 minutes.

The draw helped Liem conclude the tournament with 35.5 out of 56 points maximum and won the title. Esipenko came second with 32.5 points, followed by India’s Gukesh Dommaraju with 29.5 points.

Overall, Liem topped the standard and rapid chess event but failed to conquer the blitz event.

This is Liem’s first individual title since 2019 when he claimed three titles at the Asian Chess Championship, Summer Chess Classic and World Open.

Before winning Biel Grandmaster, Liem finished as runner-up in many tournaments like the 2021 Chessable Masters, 2022 Oslo Esports Cup, SEA Games 31 and 2022 Prague Masters.

The overall victory at Biel Grandmaster earned Liem 5.7 Elo, which put his Elo rating at 2,728 and 21st on the standard chess world ranking. This is also the highest rank in Liem’s career. He reached this position once, in 2017.