Quang Liem won the second match in the Oslo Esports Cup
NorwayQuang Liem took only three games to beat Eric Hansen 2.5-0.5 in the fourth round on the evening of April 25, at the first main tournament of the Champions Chess Tour 2022.
Quang Liem took black in the first game, when Hansen chose to open Spain. In the middle of the game, the Vietnamese player had a slight advantage, but White changed his pieces in turn to bring the position to the end of the game. Two players draw after 60 moves.
Quang Liem in the Eric Hansen match in the fourth round of the Oslo Esports Cup in Norway on the evening of April 25. Image: Screen capture
The turning point came in the second game when Quang Liem held the white piece. He did not use the familiar 1.d4 opening in the past, but went 1.Nf3 and then 2.c4 according to the English opening. White takes advantage of Black’s weakness at d5 to put the code in, giving it a slight advantage in the center. From there, Quang Liem pushed the f column well to weaken the good structure of the opponent’s wing, and attacked the citadel. The black king was forced to flee the city, and was threatened by the white troops. While the black pieces clustered to protect the king, White pushed well through the h column to pressure the level. Quang Liem then made another good pass at e6, after forcing Hansen to change his position. The Canadian player was forced to sacrifice his statue to prevent the white pawn from ranking, leading to defeat after 57 moves.
“The key to this match lies in the second game,” Quang Liem said after the match. “It was a tough game, but I found a way to win in the end.”
Hansen needs to win in the third game, which is also the last game he holds white. He still used the Spanish opening, but took a strange turn and fell short in the middle. Quang Liem thinks that Hansen doesn’t seem to remember this opening variation. Southeast Asia’s super grandmaster also shows better calculation ability with a combined attack to gain advantage.
The position after 24.Nd6. White threatened to arrest both black cars, but Quang Liem also had a stronger response…
…with 24…Bd5, Black now threatens to capture up to three white pieces, including code d6, statue b3 and most importantly, post c2. Quang Liem only took 6 seconds to make this move, despite the complicated calculation. Hansen could not avoid losing his army.
Black has a car, two horses and a statue of two cars and a white horse after the exchange. Super grandmaster is not only superior in quality, but also has a great advantage in terms of time. He calmly put the light pieces in a favorable position and protected each other, then pushed the pawn down to the third row. Hansen was captured and lost his code, making the endgame rare. White only has the car, while Black still has the statue and the code pair.
“The statue and the pair of horses can fight a queen, here their opponent is just a car,” commented Grandmaster David Howell. At the same time, Hansen asked to lose after 52 moves.
After four matches, Quang Liem won Chess King Magnus Carlsen and Hansen, but lost to Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa. The number one player in Vietnam earns six points and a $15,000 bonus. The tournament has three more rounds for the players to earn more money, and Quang Liem’s next opponent is home World Cup champion Jan-Krzysztof Duda. The match starts at 23h on Tuesday, April 26, Hanoi time.
Xuan Binh
at Blogtuan.info – Source: vnexpress.net – Read the original article here
