Le Quang Liem took second place at the Sparkassen Chess Meeting which wrapped up on July 25 in Dortmund , Germany.
In the 10th and final round that took place on July 25, the world No 55Liem drew against world number 16, Ukraine 's Ruslan Ponomariov.
With two wins, seven draws and one loss, taking 5.5 points, Liemfinished runner-up to the winner Ponomariov who showed panache andpatience, making the most of his opportunities, with a total of 6.5points.
Ponomariov's task could have been far simpler. AsWhite, playing his nearest rival, his task was to neutralise the gameand safely secure a draw. By doing so he would have finished first andsecure with what has been a near perfect tournament; a competition hehas led almost continuously since the very first round. His youngVietnamese opponent, however, had other plans and seemed close towinning at one point.
According to experts, the secondplace finish by 19-year-old Liem, in his first appearance in a Super GMtournament, was a fantastic result. He showed that he is perfectly ableto compete with the top players, and will undoubtedly be a regular guestat such events.
Among the six players at Dortmund , Liemhad the lowest Elo rating of 2681, the highest Elo rating was VladimirKramnik of Russia with 2790.
The last round ofDortmund was not without excitement, as Ponomariov came very close tolosing his game against Liem, with the two other games ending withdecisive results.
Kramnik defeated Shak. Mamedyarov ofAzerbaijan in their final-round encounter to grab third place with fivepoints, while Peter Leko of Hungary defeated Arkadij Naiditsch of thehosts Germany
The 38th edition of the Dortmund chess festival took place on July 15-25.
With Kramnik, Mamedyarov, Ponomariov, Leko, Naiditsch and Liem thetournament boasts an average Elo rating of 2734. As last year (and justlike the Kings Tournament in Bazna in June) the tournament was asix-player, double round-robin and is one of the strongest tournamentsworldwide to be held this year./.
In the 10th and final round that took place on July 25, the world No 55Liem drew against world number 16, Ukraine 's Ruslan Ponomariov.
With two wins, seven draws and one loss, taking 5.5 points, Liemfinished runner-up to the winner Ponomariov who showed panache andpatience, making the most of his opportunities, with a total of 6.5points.
Ponomariov's task could have been far simpler. AsWhite, playing his nearest rival, his task was to neutralise the gameand safely secure a draw. By doing so he would have finished first andsecure with what has been a near perfect tournament; a competition hehas led almost continuously since the very first round. His youngVietnamese opponent, however, had other plans and seemed close towinning at one point.
According to experts, the secondplace finish by 19-year-old Liem, in his first appearance in a Super GMtournament, was a fantastic result. He showed that he is perfectly ableto compete with the top players, and will undoubtedly be a regular guestat such events.
Among the six players at Dortmund , Liemhad the lowest Elo rating of 2681, the highest Elo rating was VladimirKramnik of Russia with 2790.
The last round ofDortmund was not without excitement, as Ponomariov came very close tolosing his game against Liem, with the two other games ending withdecisive results.
Kramnik defeated Shak. Mamedyarov ofAzerbaijan in their final-round encounter to grab third place with fivepoints, while Peter Leko of Hungary defeated Arkadij Naiditsch of thehosts Germany
The 38th edition of the Dortmund chess festival took place on July 15-25.
With Kramnik, Mamedyarov, Ponomariov, Leko, Naiditsch and Liem thetournament boasts an average Elo rating of 2734. As last year (and justlike the Kings Tournament in Bazna in June) the tournament was asix-player, double round-robin and is one of the strongest tournamentsworldwide to be held this year./.
