Chess king Carlsen defeats Vietnam chess ace in grand tournament

After drawing the first two games, Carlsen got an advantage when playing white in the third. He decided to use a higher-risk approach and made it more complicated in mid-game. The Norwegian star lost a knight in the endgame, but had three more pawns than Liem, trapping him in defense, and eventually, checkmate.

Liem shook his head when he realized his mistake and pushed the surrender button, while Carlsen smiled after the important victory.

“I couldn’t find a way to win in that situation, so I tried to trick Quang Liem and succeeded,” Carlsen said.

With the loss in the third game, Liem had no choice but to win in the last one. However, he once again fell into Carlsen’s trap and lost his queen in mid-game.

The round ended with a 3-1 win for Carlsen.

In April, at Oslo Esports Cup, Liem beat Carlsen 2.5-1.5.

Only Carlsen and Indian prodigy Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa have won all games after four rounds.

Liem will face Praggnanandhaa in the fifth round. After four rounds, he won one and lost three games. His prize money at the tournament is currently $7,500.

The FTX Crypto Cup, held in Miami, US, is the second major tournament of Champion Chess Tour, a 10-month long series of 10 chess tournaments featuring top world players, with a prize money pool of $1.6 million.