Vietnam Joins Global Chess Elite
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
Vietnam has recently joined the elite group of global chess powers – countries that are leaders in world chess, using the ancient game as a component of their public education and culture. Vietnam achieved its latest chess milestone when Vietnamese national Le Quang Liem won the FIDE World Blitz Championship earlier this month in the northern Russian city of Khanty-Mansiysk, the largest city and regional capital of Yugra.
The 22 year-old Vietnamese grandmaster is seeded higher than any other competitive chess player from Vietnam. He has been playing chess since he was seven, starting at around the time the Vietnamese government began its efforts to promote chess in the nation of around 90 million people. After two days of blitz championship games, Liem scored a total of 20.5 points, 0.5 points ahead of silver medalist Alexander Grischuk and bronze medalist Ruslan Ponomariov, both of Ukraine.
Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, who won silver in the Rapid tournament one day earlier, finished fourth, missing out on the medals in the blitz. Together with his gold medal, Liem received a cash prize of US$40,000 for winning the blitz tournament and another US$22,500 for coming in fourth in the rapid championship the previous day. Liem’s teammate Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son ranked fifth in the blitz tournament, winning US$18,000 in prize money.
Liem’s coach Anatoly Shvedchkov started training the new blitz champion since age 7. “Liem is a very talented young man. A combination of an Eastern mindset and the fundamentals of the Soviet school of chess has produced amazing results,” said international chess master Shvedchkov who has been training Vietnamese chess players for the past 15 years.
This year’s contemporaneous FIDE-organized World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships were 15 and 30-round Swiss events respectively. The opening ceremony on June 6 included a concert by the host city’s leading performers and entertainers. Participants and guests are noting the pleasant atmosphere and fantastic organization that made them feel right at home in the capital city of the Russian central-northern Yugra Region.
Chess fans worldwide had a chance to follow the tournaments online live, and more than 70,000 chess enthusiasts in 150 countries took the opportunity to do so. This was also an excellent occasion for the city to showcase its unique culture and features to the world outside. Khanty-Mansiysk has hosted its eighth major international chess competition in the past decade and a half, putting to good use its three-story Yugra Chess Academy, designed and built as a world-standard competitive chess venue.
Natalia Komarova, the governor of Yugra region, said: “We are thrilled to host major chess events and hope that chess enthusiasts from Russia and from around the world will get to know Khanty-Mansiysk and will come visit.”
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
Labels: le quang liem, vietnam chess
Vietnam Doing Well at 14th Asean Age-Group Chess Championships 2013
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
Vietnam seems to be the season of the chess world. Not only has Le Quang Liem just won the World Blitz Chess Championship, but we've got young Vietnamese chess players creating a wave at the 14th Asean Age-Group Championships 2013.
The chess tournaments are being held in Chiang Mai, Thailand which is great for local chess. FM Jirapak Pitirotjirathon, assistant arbiter for the U10 Open group, is impressed with the behaviour of his wards. "They are very keen to help each other as well as the arbiters - behaving more like adults than children, and some of them have prepared very well for the tournament."
"The playing conditions are ideal for such a large group of young players," said Chief Arbiter IA Maung Maung Lwin. "With help from the Imperial Mae Ping Hotel, the team of arbiters and hardworking support staff are making this a very successful event."
Some of the games are available for viewing at chess-results.com (http://www.chess-results.com/tnr103362.aspx?lan=1), and more pictures of the tournament can be found at the Facebook event page (https://www.facebook.com/events/571036186250625/)
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Labels: asean chess, jirapak pitirotjirathon, vietnam chess
World Blitz Chess 2012 Title: Le Quang Liem says it's his Biggest Win Ever!
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
Vietnam Grandmas Le Quang Liem in a chat with the official website after winning the World Blitz Chess Championship 2013 in Khanty Mansiysk.
- Liem, congratulations on the victory! Did you expect that you would win the Championship?
- You know, this result was a big surprise for me. When I was coming here I did not even think about victory. There are lots of strong chess players who are famous all over the world. I just wanted to see what will happen and who will become the Champion. In fact I cannot recollect any success in any previous blitz tournaments. For instance last time when I played Aeroflot, I played badly though I was fifth in the starting list. And in the final list I was not even in the first 50 players. Today I did not play very well but with each game I had better game. By the end of the day I started to play more confidently, making less mistakes.
- At some points you were two points ahead of your competitors. Did you feel that you have a chance to win?
- Yes, I was two points ahead but it was still unclear who will lead. This is blitz and if you make a small mistake – you lose. Everything I was thinking about at that moment is that I just have to play. Somewhere I started to put some pressure.
- Your compatriot showed good results as well. Did you prepare for these championships, perhaps by playing against each other?
- Yes, we were really training before the tournament. We were playing against each other and via Internet. This gave me more confidence.
- Is the victory in this championship your biggest success in your chess career?
- Yes, it is the biggest success in my life. It happens once in a while when someone wins the World Champion’s title. This victory is very important for me, As for the chess side, I see that I need to learn and learn. I will not practice more, I will play more chess.
- You are the first chess player from Vietnam who became the World Chess Champion. Do you feel like a hero of your country?
- Before this success I had some achievements in chess career. They know me in Vietnam, they recognize me in the streets. I would like to underline that today’s success will not only give me energy in my future career but also will help the chess development in my country.
- You were wearing the sport suit during all days of the championships. Now you have changed to the suit…
- Usually when I participate in rapid or blitz competitions, I wear something comfortable. Because I need to move pieces very quickly. But it is good to wear an official dress for the press conference and Closing Ceremony.
- Despite the fact that you had a big distance throughout the whole tournament. But in the last round all three chess players had almost equal chances. You played against Sergey Movsesian in the last round? What did you feel during this game.
- Before the last round it was an interesting situation. Several chess players had chances to win the tournament. I think that it was difficult not only for me. I came to play this game as all other games. I just played chess. I tried not to make mistakes. In the first game against Movsesian we had an equal position and came to a draw. Then I saw that Ponomariov won and I share the first place with him. That is why I thought that I have to take the second game against Movsesian more seriously. I thought I have to try to get some advantage and try to win. At some point I had worse position but then some chances appeared and I used them. Fortunately I managed to win.
- After this victory, don’t you think it is high time to organize big international official chess tournaments in Vietnam to give you and other Vietnamese chess players a chance to participate in them.
- I would be really great if the Vietnamese Chess Academy and our country in general will organize big chess competitions of high level. The main problem is to find sponsors. Unfortunately chess is not so popular in our country as other sports. For instance football. But I think that thanks to our chess players and their success during last years and particularly thanks to this success of mine in this championship, people would have more interest in chess.
- What memories will you have after this tournament?
- I come to Khanty-Mansiysk for the 5th time. I was playing in the World Cup, took part in the World Chess Olympiad. There are many chess competitions of the international level, with good organization. I have very good memories about this city. It is a small and beautiful city. After this success Khanty-Mansiysk is a lucky place for me. I think it is just created for chess.
Labels: le quang liem, vietnam chess, world blitz chess champion 2013
Vietnam Chess Blitz, Rapid Nationals 2012 Begin
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012Hi everyone,More than 140 chess players, including 65 women from 14 cities, are competing in the 2012 Vietnam National Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships from July 5-10.
Among them are leading grandmasters Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, Nguyen Duc Hoa, Pham Le Thao Nguyen and Hoang Thi Bao Tram, as well as others who performed well at the recent Asian Junior Chess Championships, namely Nguyen Thi Mai Hung, Nguyen Anh Khoi and Vu Thi Dieu Ai.
Vietnam’s top player Le Quang Liem could not join the tournament as he is currently playing the 2012 World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan, from July 1-10.
Eleven rapid and 13 blitz chess games will be played in the first round to select four best players in each category for the semi-finals.
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Labels: blitz chess, rapid chess, vietnam chess
Youngest to win Asian Chess Championship - Parimarjan Negi
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012Hi everyone,
GM Saleh Salem (UAE) GM Parimarjan Negi (India)
We found a nice review article in DNA India on India's newly-crowned Asian chess champion Primarjan Negi who has become the youngest to chess player to win the continental title. The 19-year-old Negi, who won the Asian title in the Vietnamese capital Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday, will now represent Asia in the World Cup series of events of FIDE from where players advance to the World Championship cycle.
Negi is also the third Indian afer Krishnan Sasikaran (2003), Surya Sekhar Ganguly (2009) and Pendyala Harikishna (2011) to win the Asian title. During the Asian Chess Championship, Negi led most of the while. He lost two games, rounds two and nine. He lost the final round but was declared champion on tie-break. Negi has smoothly moved into higher gear and is now reaching new and higher peaks. His current rating is 2640 and would be settling above the 2650-mark soon. That is an important number since he will walk into any Indian team if he is above that rating mark.
Negi has won a number of events and in 2010 was the Indian national champion. He won major events like the Philadelphia International in 2008 and the Politiken Cup in Copenhagen in 2009. Negi's achievements came when he was young. At 13 years, 4 months and 22 days, he became the second youngest grandmaster ever after Sergey Karjakin of Ukraine.
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Labels: asian continental chess, parimarjan negi, saleh salem, vietnam chess
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