Vietnamese grandmaster claims victory over world number four

Aronian dominated most of the time but Liem held up well. When the Armenian grandmaster finally made a mistake, Liem took advantage to overturn the tie and win.

Despite a great start with a victory over Aronian, Liem lost the next two matches against India’s Arjun Erigaisi and Iran’s Parham Maghsoodloo, both less experienced than the Vietnamese grandmaster.

Aronian is the world number four player in the November update of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), while Liem is 30th.

After two days, Liem has only earned 2.5 points and placed eighth out of 10 players. Erigaisi is leading the table with five points, followed by Aronian with four.

In the last three matches Friday, Liem will face American grandmaster Samuel Shankland, Indian prodigy Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa and another Indian player, Adhiban Baskaran.

Tata Steel Chess Rapid takes place from Nov. 17 to 19 in Kolkata, India. The tournament has 10 participants, half of whom are Indian.