Le Tuan Minh has a dramatic chase with Carlsen
In the quarterfinals of the winning bracket early in the morning of July 19, Tuan Minh played every point with Carlsen. Vietnam's number three player won the first game because his opponent ran out of time, but Carlsen won the next two games to lead 2-1. After the next two games were drawn, Tuan Minh won the sixth game to equalize the score 3-3.
It seemed that Tuan Minh had no chance when he lost two games 9 and 10 in a row, but he won the next two games and equalized the score 6-6. The Norwegian player took the lead again in game 13, but for the third time in the match representing Vietnam, equalizing the score 7-7. However, in the last three games, Tuan Minh lost in a row, when he made mistakes right from the start.
There were many games in this match, Tuan Minh fell into a losing position right in the opening, when he laughed and shook his head. In terms of mastery of opening variations, the 27-year-old cannot match a five-time world champion like Carlsen. After the match, Tuan Minh clapped his hands to congratulate the opponent, while Carlsen appeared calm and sighed softly.
This is the smallest difference in the quarterfinals of the winning bracket, because in the remaining three matches Hikaru Nakamura, Daniel Naroditsky and Alireza Firouzja all won overwhelmingly Jose Martinez, Andrew Tang and Oleksandr Bortnyk.
Tuan Minh still has a chance at the tournament when he falls to the losing bracket against David Paravyan, at 11pm today, July 19, Hanoi time. If he wins against the Russian player, he will meet Bortnyk or Emin Ohanyan.
In the winning bracket semi-finals, Nakamura was rated higher than Naroditsky, while Carlsen is expected to have more difficulties when he has to face Firouzja. Fans are looking forward to the dream final between Carlsen and Nakamura - the two top players in the current standard chess world.
The 2023 World Super Blitz Chess Championship is organized by the Chess platform from July 17 to July 21 in a dual format with 16 players, and Tuan Minh is in the group invited to the tournament. Each match lasts 30 minutes, except for the semi-finals, the winner's bracket final and the 45-minute total. Players only have one minute for the game, no extra time (1+0). The prize fund of the prize is 100,000 USD, of which 20,000 USD is awarded to the champion.
