On January 1, 2026, the World Chess Federation announced the first ranking and grandmaster Le Quang Liem was ranked 18th.
Le Quang Liem has an elo coefficient of 2731 at this time. The coefficient has been increased compared to the previous year, when Le Quang Liem had an elo of 2729. The great champion of Vietnamese chess has accumulated a significant elo score after reaching the 5th round of the International Chess Tournament World Cup 2025. The above result recognizes the best achievement of a Vietnamese player who has competed in the World Cup of Chess organized by FIDE.
Le Quang Liem is currently living and working in chess in the US. This great champion has just been absent from SEA Games 33. However, Le Quang Liem managed to participate in the 2025 World Rapid and Flash Chess Tournament in Doha (Qatar). At the end of the tournament, Le Quang Liem ranked 58th after 13 rapid chess games and 33rd after 19 blitz chess games.
Also in the FIDE's first ranking in 2026, grandmaster Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son ranked 164th in the world. This male player has an elo coefficient of 2600. Truong Son also participated in the 2025 World Rapid and Lightning Chess Tournament but did not get the highest ranking.
In the world rankings, super grandmaster Magnus Carlsen (Norway) holds the No. 1 position. The male player has an elo coefficient of 2840. Second and third positions are grandmasters Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 2810), Fabiano Caruana (USA, 2795).
