Liem showed his strong determination to win, as he put constant pressure on Gujrathi with enterprising moves, forcing the Indian competitor to finally concede a defeat.
The important victory helped the Vietnamese grandmaster to take second place overall with four points, only half a point behind the champion, China’s Yu Yangyi, who tied with the United States’ Samuel Shankland on the same day.
The result also added five Elo points to Liem’s rating, raising it to 2732 after the tournament and lifting him to 23rd position in the FIDE world rankings.
China’s Bu Xiangzhi lost his chance to compete for the championship title after suffering a surprising loss to Russia’s Vladimir Fedoseev. He joined compatriot Wei Yi, Fedoseev and Poland’s Jan-Krzysztof Duda in third place overall with 3.5 points each.
The ninth edition of the Danzhou Super Grandmaster Tournament took place in China’s Hainan province from July 27 to August 3. The eight-player single round-robin featured five international grandmasters, as well as several top Chinese players, offering a total prize fund of US$60,000.
