Vietnamese player Le Quang Liem outclassed most of his leading players at the World Blitz Chess Championship in Russia on June 10, securing top place for the first time.
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The international chess GM dominated the second day of the competition, including impressive wins over seeded players GM Alexander Grischuk of Russia and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan, to clinch the victory.
After two days of the Blitz category, Liem scored a total of 20.5 points, 0.5 points more than silver medalist Alexander Grischuk, and bronze medalist Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine.
Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, who won silver in the Rapid tournament one day earlier, finished fourth, missing out on the medals in the Blitz.
With the gold medal, Liem received a cash prize of USD40,000 for the championship title in the Blitz, plus USD22,500 for his fourth place in the Rapid one day earlier.
His teammate Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son ranked fifth in the Blitz category and was awarded USD18,000.
The 2013 World Blitz and Rapid Chess Championships attracted 60 players with an Elo rating of above 2,500 from 18 countries across the world.
