New chapter for Quang Liem as Webster University’s head coach

Vietnamese grandmaster Le Quang Liem (Photo: VNA)

The career of the number one Vietnamese chess player Le Quang Liem entered a new chapter when he accepted to coach a chess team of the US’s Webster University, replacing Susan Polgar, former women's World Champion.

Under the guidance of Polgar, Liem served as a team captain when he was a student at Webster University from 2013-2017. During two years in this position, he brought many championships to the university.

After earning two bachelors with excellence in science-finance, and arts - management in 2017. Liem has still been in close contact with the chess team.

Liem said chess is his life and becoming a coach is his dream so that he must grasp this opportunity, which he expects to help him settle down and focus on expertise with unrestricted time.

It is the job he loves and he believed that he could do it well, he said.

At present, the team has eight grandmasters with high Elo from 2550 to 2650, most notably Lazaro Bruzon Batista from Cuba who earned a world championship, two American championships and Elo 2711 in 2012.

According to Liem, he will make several small adjustments to help team members improve skills, such as working with each one to learn about their strengths and weaknesses to help them better.

As the university only launches two tournaments, namely Pan American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship and Final Four each year, he said he will still have time to compete in important championships such as Olympiad, World Cup and SEA Games.

VNA