Vietnam’s chess star Le Quang Liem failed to defend his title at the 2012 SPICE Cup after having his ninth draw out of ten matches at the event, which wrapped up Monday in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Liem, who claimed the championship at the 2011 edition, took the audience by surprise with a record eight draws in a row, before eventually securing a win, and finishing the event with another draw. The latest draw was in his last match on Monday with Wesley So of the Philippines, while his sole victory was against Hungary’s Csaba Balogh a day earlier. The event’s second seed thus had to share the second standing with China’s Ding Liren, who both earned 5.5 points. Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave won the championship with 6 points. Wesley So, Casba Balogh, and Georg Meier respectively took the remaining spots. The 2012 Spice Cup ran from October 12 to 21 at St. Louis, with the participation of six of the top players from the world’s top 100. The total cash prizes are US$10,000.