Chess champion Tran Tuan Minh from Hanoi secured the third place at the U16 event of the World Youth Chess Championships 2013, which concluded in Al Ain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), over the weekend.

The event saw competition from 1,823 players from 117 countries and territories worldwide. Vietnam sent 18 representatives to the champs.

In the U16 standard chess event, Minh earned 8 points in 11 games (seven victories, two draws and two losses) to rank third alongside six other rivals.

Four Vietnamese players reached the top 20 in the competition, including Pham Tran Gia Thu in the women’s U10 event (8 points, 8th place), Vo Pham Thien Phuc in the men’s U8 event (7.5 points, 13th place), Ngo Duc Tri (7.5 points, 14th place), and Vuong Quynh Anh (7 points, 20th place).

In the blitz chess event, Nguyen Thi Thuy Trien from Binh Dinh gave an outstanding performance and went on to win a bronze medal with 5 points after seven rounds in the women’s U10 event. Her teammate Nguyen Ngan Ha took 5.5 points to finish fifth in the women’s U8 event.

In the medal tally, Vietnam was placed 15th with only one bronze medal, while India took first place with four gold, four silver and foour bronze medals.

At the World Youth Chess Championships 2012, Nguyen Anh Khoi won the gold medal in the category U-10 open with 2 points ahead of CM Sargsyan Shan (Armenia) and FM Ram Aravind L N from India.-VNA