Liem ranks 6th at UAE Chess Champs
(VOV) - International GM Le Quang Liem has failed to secure a position in the top three even though he defeated Sergey Fedorchuk of Ukraine in the final round of the Fujairah Chess Championship on November 21.
Holding the white pieces, the top Vietnamese chess player outperformed his Ukrainian rival after 49 moves, ranking sixth overall. He has just 0.5 point less than the champion’s score.
Fedorchuk was also not among the top three because the two Indian players Ganguly Surya Shekhar and Chanda Sandiphan ended their game in a draw, sharing the championship title and a US$15,000 cash prize with Alexander Moiseenko of Ukraine.
With 6 points after 9 rounds, Liem and five other players, Sergey Fedorchuk, Baadur Jobava, Ma Qun, Andrey Samets, and Ivan Saric received US$2,500 in cash.
The annual tournament, held in Fujairah city of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from November 13-21 (local time), has attracted 58 players who all have Elo ratings of more than 2,200.
Liem raised hope to compete for the top title after defeating Constantin Lupupescu of Romania in round 7, but lost it in round 8 as he was beaten by his Indian underdog Chanda Sandiphan.
The Vietnamese player will fly to India for the second Kolkata Open from December 1-12 as the defending champion. The first tournament was held in 2009.