Vietnamese chess player wins second Biel Grandmaster title

The 2023 Biel Grandmaster ended on Wednesday in quite a dramatic fashion. Liem needs to avoid losing to Czech Republic’s number one player David Navara in the last match and hopes Germany’s Vincent Keymer gets defeated by India’s Arjun Erigaisi.

Liem was struggling when he played black against Navara and did not gain any advantage throughout the game. With no possibility of winning, Liem accepted the draw after 37 moves and earned 1.5 points, surpassing Keymer to take the top spot.

At the time Liem ended his game, Keymer were on the verge losing to Erigaisi, who played white. Keymer, the number one chess player in Germany, only needed a draw to take Liem’s place and win the title. However, at the end game, Erigaisi dominated him and after 7.5 hours, Keymer accepted defeat.

Overrall, Liem earned five out of 14 points in rapid chess, 8.5 out of 14 points in blitz chess and 19 out of 28 points in standard chess. His total point is 32.5. Last year, Liem won the title with 35.5 points.

Liem placed first with only one point more than Keymer and got $11,600 in prize money.

The 32-year-old grandmaster earned 11.8 Elo points after this tournament. His efficiency in this tournament is equivalent to a player with an Elo rating of 2,853.

His Elo rating is set to increase to 2,740 and he’s peaking 16th on world ranking, his career-high achievement.

The 2023 Biel Grandmaster features eight players with an average Elo of 2,699, competing in three types of chess, with seven games of rapid chess, seven games of standard chess and 14 blitz chess games. Each win of standard chess will earn a player four points, rapid chess two points and blitz chess one point. A draw of standard chess is worth 1.5 points, rapid chess one point and blitz chess 0.5 points.

After this tournament, Liem is expected to go to Baku, Azerbaijan to attend the Chess World Cup on July 30, but he will not have to compete in the first round as the 15th seed.