Quang Liem is expected to surprise Carlsen

"Quang Liem attended the tournament as a dark horse, but he has shown many times that we cannot underestimate anyone at the top level," Howell said. "If he keeps his current form, Carlsen will be expected to win the match. But watch out for tomorrow's match there will be some surprises."

Carlsen is the only player to have won all of the past four matches and received the full $30,000 in prize money. "He is in top form," said Quang Liem. "It's going to be very difficult for me, but I'm going to work hard and fight well against Carlsen."

Quang Liem is third on the Tour Finals, with five points less than Carlsen's top. In the fourth round, he defeated the 2021 World Cup champion Jan-Krzysztof Duda 3-1. Through three main stages in this year's Tour, Quang Liem won the number one Polish player.

Duda won the first three games convincingly, but Quang Liem was not worried because the confrontation between the two players in the tournament was in his favor. "The first game is a draw on the losing position is a bad sign for me," commented Quang Liem. "In game two, I had the advantage of winning but was disappointed that I couldn't take advantage of it."

Quang Liem was more confident and won the last two games, ending the match with a 3-1 victory. He was only slightly distracted in the final game due to technical problems, but it did not affect the result.

Quang Liem will meet Carlsen in the highlight match of the fifth round, taking place from 3 am on 19/11 Hanoi time. In the previous two main stages head-to-head, each has won one match.

Champions Chess Tour is the world's largest online chess tournament system initiated by Carlsen. Tour 2022 has a bonus fund of 1.6 million USD, of which the final round has a total prize of 210,000 USD.

Each match, two players play four quick chess games, win one point, draw half a point, lose no points. Whoever gets 2.5 or more points wins the match. If there is a 2-2 draw in fast chess, the two players will tie-break two games of blitz chess. If still tied, they play a game of armageddon to decide the winner.