This is Liem’s first victory against the Norwegian grandmaster after succumbing to him in their 15 previous clashes.
In the first game, while playing the white side, Carlsen made a mistake and lost his queen.Â
He surrendered after the 39th move.Â
In the second game, the Vietnamese grandmaster held the white pieces and quickly drew against his rival after only a few minutes.Â
However, Carlsen made a comeback and won the third game.
Both had a 1.5-1.5 score going into the final game, but Liem had the advantage of playing the white side.Â
The game proved to be a good fight, with both players constantly putting pressure on each other’s defenses.
Another mistake from Carlsen gave Liem the opportunity to launch a final attack, forcing the chess king to lose the game after the 42nd move.
The 2.5-1.5 victory on aggregate against the world’s No. 1 player is expected to give Liem more confidence in the rest of the tournament.
In the next round, Liem is scheduled to face India’s Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, the only player with a winning streak so far in the competition.
Oslo Esports Cup, taking place from April 22 to 28, is the first major event of the grand series Champions Chess Tour, which features eight grandmasters.Â
Of these, four are among the world’s top 15.Â
They will face each other in a round-robin format.
A player will get US$2,500 for each point they earn and $7,500 for a win.Â
The prize pool for this tournament is $210,000.
Each match is a set of four rapid chess games, lasting 15 minutes each – just 10 seconds for each move.
Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
