Liem scored 18 out of a possible 36 points, tying for sixth place with Gukesh. In the blitz portion, he earned 11 points, placing third behind Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Levon Aronian (both with 11.5 points). However, his performance in the rapid section was less successful, securing only 7 points out of 9 games.

Le Quang Liem during the final day of the blitz tournament at the St. Louis Grand Chess Tour in Missouri, USA, 15/8/2025. Photo: *GCT*

In the final 9 blitz games on August 16th, Liem won three games against Sam Shankland, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, and Grigoriy Oparin, drew four, and lost two against Leinier Dominguez and Wesley So. Throughout the entire tournament, Liem won all three games against Shankland, but managed only one draw and two losses against So.

Levon Aronian won the championship with 24.5 points and $40,000. Fabiano Caruana came in second with 21.5 points and $30,000. Liem and Gukesh both earned $10,500. Shankland finished last with 9 points and $7,000.

Following this tournament, six players: Caruana, Gukesh, Abdusattorov, So, Aronian, and Vachier-Lagrave, will participate in the Sinquefield Cup, a classical chess tournament also held in St. Louis. They will be joined by four other players: Alireza Firouzja, Sam Sevian, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu. Liem has been invited to the Sinquefield Cup multiple times but declined due to his full-time commitments at Webster University.

Liem's next tournament will be the Chess World Cup in India, from 31/10 to 27/11. This is the largest individual chess tournament of the year, featuring Magnus Carlsen, Gukesh, and many other top players.

Xuan Binh