The Vietnamese quarter defeated their Turkish rivals in the playoff to take third place on the podium.

Vietnam’s medal tally currently stands at one bronze for xiangqi (Chinese chess) and a silver for chess.

The team lost to powerhouse Russia earlier in the semi-finals 2.5-5.5. Turkey lost to China 3-5 in both sets.

In their face-off with Turkey, Vietnam’s master Pham Le Thao Nguyen succumbed to Kubra Pzturk in the first match but did not make the same mistakes in the return match. The seniors successfully won all their games, beating Turkey 7-1 as a team.

The final saw an aggressive eight-match competition between China and Russia who also stand first and second respectively in the Games’ medal tally so far.

Chinese teenager Hou Yifan, who won a gold medal in the mixed pair rapid chess on October 12, did not reach her peak on October 14, losing all two matches to Alexandra Kosteniuk, who pocketed a gold medal in the women’s blitz chess on October 12.

Her teammate Xu Yuhua lost the first match to Valentina Gunina and was replaced with Huang Qian but she too failed to claim victory.

Of the Russians, only Irina Vasilevich suffered losses in both matches but her teammates were too strong to be defeated, leading to their overall win.

Later in the final, China also resigned to Hungary in the men’s event. The Ukraine seized bronze after beating India.

The Vietnamese men’s team missed their chance to play in the semi-final as they matched India in points but their sub-index left them in 5^th place.

The first World Mind Sports Games has attracted more than 3,000 players from 143 countries and regions. The programme included bridge, chess, go, draughts and xiangqi.