Too little time to rest

I have too little time to rest: chess star
Tuoi Tre

Updated : Thu, February 23, 2012,3:25 PM (GMT+0700)

A tight schedule that took him from one chess competition to the next, leaving him little time for rest and recovery in between, is the main reason for his two consecutive failures at recent international tournaments, local chess talent Le Quang Liem shared at a press briefing yesterday.

Earlier this month, Liem finished seventh at the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival in the UK. Only a week later, he was in Russia to attend the 2012 Aeroflot Open, where he was expected to defend his championships won for two years in a row, 2010 and 2011.

However, the Vietnamese chess grandmaster failed to retain the title and make a hat-trick.

“There was little time between the UK and Russia tournaments for me to relax and allow my mind and physical strength to recover,” he said.

However, Liem confirmed he is ready for the coming International Chess Tournament HDBank Cup 2012, which will run from March 2–7, attracting nearly 100 players from Vietnam, China, Russia, India, Ukraine, and Gruzia.

After the failures in the last tournaments, Liem’s Elo rating dropped to 2,698 from 2,714, he said.

“I will try my best at the HDBank cup to return to the group of chess players with Elo 2,700 and above.”

Liem was the top seed in last year’s cup, but only concluded at the fourth place.

Prior to the opening of the HDBank Cup, Liem played multiple games with 20 amateur players who are his fans in Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday, none of whom could claim the satisfaction of beating their idol at his own game.

Source: http://www.tuoitrenews.vn