Quang Liem on track to win Int’l chess champs
(VOV) - Vietnamese No.1 player Le Quang Liem drew with the Philippine rival Barbosa Oliver on March 24 to stay atop the HD Bank International Chess Championships in Ho Chi Minh City.
After outplaying Zhou Jianchao of China on March 23, Liem looked confident entering the clash against Oliver, hoping for a good result.
On his purpose, Oliver quickly exchanged the pieces and accepted a draw after 30 moves.
The Vietnamese international grandmaster got 7 points from 8 matches, 1 point more than his followers. The result means Liem has a great chance to win the championship title as the tournament has only one round to go.
In the decisive match against Berkes Ferenc of Hungary on March 25, Liem needs half a point to win the trophy. The Hungarian grandmaster now ranks second and has one point less than Liem.
Other Vietnamese players, Nguyen Duc Hoa and Tran Tuan Minh, did not succeed in the 8th round, while Vietnam’s No1 female player Pham Le Thao Nguyen now got only 4.5 points, standing 37th in the rankings.