GM Lê Quang Liêm of Việt Nam (left) competes against GM Levon Aronian of Armenia in tie-break on Sunday in Russia. — Photo of FIDE

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese Grandmaster Quang Liêm was knocked out of the FIDE World Cup after losing to defending champion Levon Aronian of Armenia in a tie-break on Sunday in Russia.

After two draws in standard matches of the fourth round, the two grandmasters competed in a four-match tie-break which saw a final result of 3.5-2.5 for Aronian, world No 14.

Liêm was also ousted in this round in 2013 as well.

Liêm brings home winnings of US$25,000 while Aronian advanced to the quarter-final where he will play GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France who is world No 5. 

The World Cup will wrap-up on October 4 with the finalists qualifying for the Candidates Tournament for the World Chess Championship 2020. — VNS