Liem’s first draw at Asian chess champs
(VOV) - Leading Vietnamese chess player Le Quang Liem on May 20 drew with the host nation’s Gomez John Paul in their match at the Asian Chess Championships underway in the Philippines.
Prior to this most recent 46 move tie, Paul defeated Liem at 2011’s inaugural HDBank Open Cup chess tournament in Ho Chi Minh City.
Vietnamese player Nguyen Duc Hoa was held to a draw with his Chinese rival Shilong, seeded tenth at the tournament.
Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son suffered a surprise loss at the hands of Qatar’s Al-Sayed Mohammed.
Dao Thien Hai was Vietnam’s only victor in the third round, beating the host’s Usman Sarangani. His two points after three matches places him equal with Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son and Nguyen Duc Hoa.
Le Quang Liem’s 2.5 points advanced him to second place. Filipino Sadorra Julio Catalino and Qatar’s Al-Sayed Mohammed are tied for first with three points each.
The fourth round on May 21 pitted Liem against Laylo Darwin (the Philippines), Duc Hoa against Negi Parimarjan (Indonesia), and Truong Son against Munkhgal Gombosurel (Mongolia).
In the single women’s division, Vietnam’s Thao Nguyen drew with her Chinese rival Huang Qian after 31 moves. The matches between Thanh An (Vietnam) and Guliskhan Nakhbayeva (Kazakhstan), and Thanh Tu (Vietnam) and Kulkarni Bhakti Pradip (India), also finished in ties.
Vietnamese player Mai Hung defeated Anu Bayar (Mongolia).
The Vietnamese women’s fixtures for the May 21 round were Thao Nguyen versus Guo Qi (China), Thanh Tu versus Nhu Y, Bao Tram versus Maria Antoinette (the Philippines), and Mai Hung versus Nafisa Muminova (Uzbekistan).