Le Quang Liem beat Gukesh Dommaraju for the first time since the Indian player was crowned King, at the St Louis Grand Chess Tour 2025 rapid chess tournament.
After finishing 8th out of 10 players in the rapid chess event, Quang Liem played much better on the first day of blitz this morning, August 15, Hanoi time. Vietnam's number one player was in the group with the highest score, 6 out of 9 maximum points, along with Wesley So, Grigoriy Oparin, Levon Aronian and Nodirbek Abdusattorov.
Quang Liem started the day with three consecutive wins against Leinier Dominguez, Fabiano Caruana and Sam Shankland. He drew the next three games against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Oparin and Aronian. In the seventh game, the 34-year-old player, holding the black pieces, defeated the world standard chess champion Gukesh.
Le Quang Liem in a blitz game at the St Louis Grand Chess Tour in Missouri, USA on August 14, 2025. Photo: GCT
Le Quang Liem in a blitz game at the St Louis Grand Chess Tour in Missouri, USA on August 14, 2025. Photo: GCT
Quang Liem chose the Cozio Defense to counter the Spanish opening. The two players quickly exchanged queens, leading to an endgame, as the Vietnamese representative took advantage of time. He took turns moving his rooks and capturing the white pawns, as his Indian opponent made a series of weak moves. The game ended after 57 moves, with Quang Liem leading by three pawns.
This is the second time Quang Liem has defeated a reigning Chess King, on the board. He defeated Magnus Carlsen when the Norwegian was the reigning champion, at the Champions Chess Tour on April 23, 2022. But at that time, the two players competed online, via computer.
In Quang Liem's career, the chess world has had six Kings, namely Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik, Viswanathan Anand, Carlsen, Dinh Lap Nhan and Gukesh. The first time he won a Chess King at an Elo tournament was a match with Dinh at the Chess Olympiad last year.
Gukesh, 19, won the title at the end of last year after defeating Dinh in the world chess final. The Indian prodigy mainly spends time on standard chess, so he is not highly regarded in rapid chess, especially blitz chess. Meanwhile, Quang Liem was the world blitz champion in 2013.
In the remaining two blitz games, Quang Liem lost to Wesley So and drew with Abdusattorov. With 6 points from the first day of blitz, he rose to stand on par with Gukesh before the final day, with the same 13 points. Aronian is leading with 19 points, while Caruana is second with 17 points.
Early tomorrow morning, August 16, the tournament will end with the last 9 blitz games. There are not many chances to win the championship, but Quang Liem can improve his record if he maintains his form like today. He will meet Gukesh again in blitz and this is an opportunity for the 19-year-old Chess King to get revenge.
The Grand Chess Tour (GCT) is the world's leading chess super tournament system, played on the chessboard. This year, the GCT has 6 stages, including two standard tournaments, three blitz tournaments and a final round. After three stages this year, Alireza Firouzja is leading, although he has not won any stage. Number one player Magnus Carlsen has only participated in one stage and won first place.
The St Louis stage has a blitz format. Each player plays 9 rapid games, 18 blitz games, and scores are calculated. Each player has 25 minutes for a rapid game, plus 10 seconds after each move (25+10). The blitz format is 5+2. The prize fund of the tournament is 175,000 USD, and the champion receives 40,000 USD.
