Vietnam GM off to rough start at major chess tour

Liem managed to draw against Mamedyarov in the first, third and fourth match but was beaten in the second, resulting in an overall 1-5-2.5 defeat.

Oslo Esports Cup is the first major event of the grand series Champions Chess Tour, which featured eight grandmasters. Of these, four are among the world top 15. They will face each other in a round-robin format.

A player will get $2,500 for each point they earn and $7,500 for a win. The prize pool for this tournament is $210,000.

Each match is a set of four rapid chess games, with 15 minutes for each game and an addition of 10 seconds for each move. A player will get three points for winning a match and one for drawing. If the result is 2-2 after four games, they will enter an armageddon game, with black winning the game if it’s a draw.

Liem has won the four previous encounters with Mamedyarov in Champion Chess Tour before losing this one. In the next game, Liem will play chess king Magnus Carlsen.

In current Champions Chess Tour standings, Liem is fourth after Carlsen, world champion Jan-Kryzsztof Duda and world runner-up Ian Nepomniachtchi.