GM Le Quang Liem.— Photo zing.vn

HA NOI (VNS) — Viet Nam's No 1 chess Grandmaster, GM Le Quang Liem, won the SPICE Rapid Invitational last Saturday.

Webster University's SPICE Program (the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence), hosted the 16 player tournament in St. Louis, Missouri, United States.

Liem claimed the title with a perfect 6/6 score, outperforming a field of nine GMs, including GM Illya Nyzhnyk, GM Manuel Leon Hoyos and world ranked No 14, GM Wesley So. Liem, who made waves as the 2013 World Blitz champion, is FIDE-ranked 44th in Standard chess, 21st in Rapid chess and 5th in Blitz chess.

Webster University's SPICE Program is a renowned incubator in the chess world, laying claim to four World Champions, 11 Olympians and 17 National Champions. The university offered Liem a full scholarship in 2012. He is currently pursuing a degree in Banking and Finance while he fills out the university's impressive 12 GM roster. — VNS