Chess GM Liem draws first blood at HDBank Open
Vietnam’s No 1 chess player Le Quang Liem opened his campaign at the 4th HDBank International Open Chess Tournament with a facile victory over Borsos Bogdan of Ukraine in HCM City on March 10.
His compatriots stumbled in other matches, with Tu Hoang Thong and Doan Thien Hai losing to Liu Xiangyi and Tin Jingyao of Singapore; and Nguyen Sy Hung losing to Yap Kim Steven of the Philippines.
The 9-round tournament, set to wrap up on March 15, will offer US$35,000 in prizes. The male winner will earn US$12,000 and the top woman will claim US$3,000.
Winners of previous editions, Le Quang Liem (3rd edition) and Ni Hua of China (2nd edition), are seeded one and two in a field of 80 players from 16 countries and territories including China, India, the Philippines and Russia.