Vietnam chess ace makes impressive comeback in bullet tournament

Le Tuan Minh on the HDBank chess championship in 2018. Photograph by Vietnamchess

Minh had an amazing begin with two wins however Bortnyk rapidly equalized then led 4-3. He maintained the lead 5.5-4.5 however Minh turned it round by profitable two consecutive video games. Bortnyk equalized another time to make it 6.5-6.5.

With solely three minutes left, Minh drew forward another time and Bortnyk had no selection however to win within the final recreation. He took a threat to assault however Minh countered successfully to conclude the match 8.5-6.5.

The defeat within the loser bracket eradicated Bortnyk from the match, whereas Minh assured a spot within the high 4. He’ll play American grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky for the third place on Friday. If Minh can beat Naroditsky, he’ll play Andrew Tang, who defeated him within the semifinals. The winner of this recreation will face Hikaru Nakamura within the last.

Bullet Chess Championship was hosted by chess.com for the primary time in 2019 with a prize pool of $15,000. It is thought-about the highest bullet chess match on the earth. In 2022, the prize pool went as much as $100,000. The match takes place from Feb. 21 to March 17, ranging from the qualifiers.

The principle occasion is a 16-player double elimination knockout bracket. 4 certified gamers be a part of 12 invited gamers to play the principle occasion. Gamers who lose a match go to the losers bracket and in the event that they proceed to lose, are eradicated from the occasion. The grand finals encompass as much as two matches, the place a participant from the loser bracket has to win twice to grow to be the champion.