Liem, Son shine at Asian Contintental Chess Championship 2019

After starting with the advantage of holding the white pawn, Liem, Elo rating 2694, was able to defeat Lalith Babu of India, Elo rating 2571, after 44 moves.

The positive result pushed the Vietnamese super grandmaster into 5th position in the rankings, and earned him 4.5 points, leaving him only a single point behind Ieading Indian player Murali.

Liem is scheduled to face off against Maghsoodloo Parham of Iran, Elo rating 2665, in his seventh match of the competition.

Elsewhere Liem’s teammate Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son successfully beat his Chinese rival Xu Zhihang, Elo rating 2504, in 53 moves. The victory helped Son maintain his undefeated streak over six matches and earned him an additional four points. Son, who is currently ranked 10th, is scheduled to play Idani Pouya of Iran, Elo rating 2597, in his next match.

In the women’s event, Vo Thi Kim Phung lost to number one seed Saduakassova Dinara of Kazakhstan while Pham Le Thao Nguyen and Hoang Thi Bao Tram both recorded victories over their rivals from the Philippines.

The three Vietnamese female chess players have earned 3.5 points each from six matches, 1.5 points less than the group’s leader.