Magnus Carlsen is now clear second and within striking distance of the first place in Charity Cup 2022. Le Quang Liem is still the sole leader after three days of solid performance, while Jorden Van Foorest rushes into third.
More about Charity Cup: Charity Cup 2022 participants and preview / Charity Cup 2022 live / Charity Cup 2022 video) Round reports: Hans Niemann and Liem Quang Le lead after Day 1 / Le Quang Liem is sole leader after Day 2 / Carlsen closer to the top in Day 3
Vietmanese star Liem Quang Le’s hot streak showed no signs of cooling down as the Charity Cup’s Prelim stage enters its final three rounds tomorrow.
The speed chess specialist won two games either side of a draw to go 11 unbeaten before a first loss of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour event.
It leaves Liem 3 points clear of World Champion Magnus Carlsen on the leaderboard with 27 points overall and assured of a place in the Knockout stage.
Carlsen also had a solid day chalking up 8 points and taking his total to 24. Like Liem, the Norwegian goes into the final three rounds of the Prelims with no worries about making the cut.
Carlsen started by getting sweet revenge on the 16-year-old teen sensation R.Praggnanandhaa who beat him in the first Tour event, the Airthings Masters. Pragg is left fighting for a place in the quarters.
In the next round, Carlsen was in big trouble against as Jorden Van Foreest built up a winning position against. But the Dutchman – part of Carlsen’s team of advisers for his last world title defence – let the champ off the hook to escape with a draw.
Carlsen drew again against the Spanish fan favourite David Anton before a Round 12 win over Englishman Gawain Jones.
Van Foreest’s draw against Carlsen wasn’t his only good result of the day. The 22-year-old also scored three wins to pull himself up into third.
“I think it’s the best streak of four consecutive games I’ve had,” Van Foreest said.
At the other end of the scale, Poland’s World Cup winner Jan-Krzysztof Duda suffered three defeat in a row before ending the day on a high with a win over the 18-year-old American Hans Niemann.
Duda lies 6th and, despite the Round 12 loss, Niemann finished on 18 points and is also looking good to make the cut.
The Prelim stage ends at Round 15 on Tuesday. Eight will progress to the Knockout stage and eight will be eliminated. The event is supported by NEAR Foundation and is being held as a fundraiser for UNICEF.
Tune in at 17:00 UTC / 18:00 CET tomorrow for day 4 of the Charity Cup.
