Liang Defeats Salem, Wins Battle of Minds

America's most recent member of the 2700 club, GM Awonder Liang, traveled to Sharjah, United Arab Emirates to face off against Emirati GM Salem A.R. Saleh in a six-day match dubbed "Battle of the Minds," which ended Thursday, Feb. 12 with an 8½–7½ victory for Liang.

Awonder Liang strikes a pose during the early phase of his lengthy theoretical draw against Grigoriy Oparin (Photo courtesy SLCC/Lennart Ootes)

The format consisted of four rapid games on the first day, followed by one classical game a day for four days, and, finally, four blitz games on the final day. Each rapid and blitz game was worth one point, and each classical game was worth two points.

Liang jumped out to a 2½–½ lead in the rapid before Salem struck back. But the real gem of the match was the classical portion. Salem is a highly original, creative player and a great match for Liang's style.

After one relatively short draw, the next three classical games were all hotly contested (see analysis below).

Liang won the final classical game to bring the classical portion to a tie, keeping his one-game lead from the rapid intact. White won all four games in the blitz portion, sealing the match for Liang.

Congratulations to Liang on the victory, and thank you to both players for delivering on the promise of this highly entertaining battle.