Lê Quang Liêm faces a historic achievement at the 2025 Chess World Cup

Today, November 11, in Goa, India, Vietnam's leading chess grandmaster Lê Quang Liêm advances to round 4 of the 2025 Chess World Cup to compete against Venkataraman Karthik.

On November 11 in Goa, India, Vietnam’s number one chess player Lê Quang Liêm steps into the 4th round of the 2025 Chess World Cup to challenge Venkataraman Karthik, India’s national champion. This is seen as a tough but promising opportunity for Quang Liêm to continue his historic run at this prestigious event.

Lê Quang Liêm currently holds an Elo rating of 2,729 and is seeded 13th in the tournament. To reach round 4, he has consecutively defeated Baadur Jobava (Georgia, Elo 2,573) and Jeffery Xiong (USA, Elo 2,648).

Victory over Xiong helped Quang Liêm match his career-best performance at the World Cup — reaching the round of 16, a feat he achieved in 2013 and 2019. Experts and fans alike hope this time the Vietnamese player can go further and set a new milestone for Vietnamese chess.

Quang Liêm’s opponent, Venkataraman Karthik (Elo 2,579), although lower ranked, is currently in excellent form. As the Indian chess champion playing on home ground, Karthik enjoys strong support from the local audience, promising an intense match.

The 2025 Chess World Cup follows a knockout format. Each round consists of two standard games; if tied, rapid and blitz games determine the winner. This demands players maintain high concentration and devise smart strategies for stamina and mental strength to compete over consecutive days.

Before round 4, the tournament has already seen major surprises, especially World chess champion Gukesh Dommaraju (India) being eliminated early. The exit of many top seeds has made the competition more unpredictable than ever, while opening opportunities for players like Quang Liêm to advance deeper into the event.

The first game between Lê Quang Liêm and Venkataraman Karthik takes place at 4 PM today (Vietnam time) and will be broadcast live on the International Chess Federation (FIDE) YouTube channel.

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