Quang Liem drops to second at HCMC int’l chess tournament

VietNamNet Bridge – On March 12, Le Quang Liem got a win and a draw when holding the black pawns in the games against Zhang Zhong of Singapore and Duc Hoa of Vietnam.

In round four, Quang Liem (Elo 2709) played an important game against the fourth seed Zhang Zhong (Elo 2600).

The Singaporean player held the white pawns but he played very cautiously, while Quang Liem was also very carefully to ensure to not lose the game.

At the 31st move, the two players had to accept to share the point when nobody prevailed. This is the first draw of both players.

In round five, Quang Liem held the black prawns against Nguyen Duc Hoa (Elo 2496). Liem won the game at the 66th move.

Zhang Zhong also won in round five, against Vietnam’s Nguyen Van Huy (Elo 2414) after 66 moves. After 5 rounds, Zhang Zhong had the same 4.5 points as Quang Liem but he temporarily ranks first for higher sub-index. Quang Liem ranks second, followed by Duc Hoa.

In round 6, Quang Liem will crash his teammate Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son (Elo 2613) while Zhang Zhong will face Nguyen Duc Hoa.

Former champion Ni Hua (China, elo 2658) rose to the fourth place with 4 points and can compete for the top spot when he holds the white pawn against Kirill (Kazakhstan, elo 2454).

The International HD Bank Chess Tournament takes place from March 10 to 15 in HCM City. It attracts 80 players from 16 countries with a total reward of $35,000.

The champion will receive $12,000, and the players behind will have $5,000, $3,000, $2,000, and $1,000. The top female chess player will have $3,000.

S. Tung

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