International Grandmaster Le Quang Liem took the sole lead at theRussian International Chess Festival (Aeroflot Open) after seventh roundplay on Feb. 15 in Moscow .
Liem has scored sixpoints after seven matches and has remained in the top position in thetournament since the third round on Feb. 11.
Thedefending champion, Liem, defeated Russian Mikhail Kobalia, 32, who wasEuropean Youth Chess Champion in 1994. The victory made Liem the onlycompetitor here not to suffer a loss in the tournament, which followsthe Swiss system's nine-round format.
His two drawswere against Evgeny Tomashevsky of Russia and Rustam Kasimdzhanov ofUzbekistan . Tomashevsky triumphed at the 10th European Championshipsin 2009 while Kasimdzhanov shocked the chess world by winning the FIDEworld chess championship title, beating a string of world-class players.
In their previous match, Liem drew with Kasimdzhanov and lost his Asian Games title to the Uzbek last December.
The HCM City-born Liem will next meet Ivan Cheparinov of Bulgariawho has earned five points and is among seven players on five points,very close to Liem in the ranking table.
The winnerof the tournament will bring home 20,000 EUR (29,300 USD) and get thechance to participate in a round-robin super tournament in Dortmund ,Germany , in late July. The final match is on Feb. 18./.
Liem has scored sixpoints after seven matches and has remained in the top position in thetournament since the third round on Feb. 11.
Thedefending champion, Liem, defeated Russian Mikhail Kobalia, 32, who wasEuropean Youth Chess Champion in 1994. The victory made Liem the onlycompetitor here not to suffer a loss in the tournament, which followsthe Swiss system's nine-round format.
His two drawswere against Evgeny Tomashevsky of Russia and Rustam Kasimdzhanov ofUzbekistan . Tomashevsky triumphed at the 10th European Championshipsin 2009 while Kasimdzhanov shocked the chess world by winning the FIDEworld chess championship title, beating a string of world-class players.
In their previous match, Liem drew with Kasimdzhanov and lost his Asian Games title to the Uzbek last December.
The HCM City-born Liem will next meet Ivan Cheparinov of Bulgariawho has earned five points and is among seven players on five points,very close to Liem in the ranking table.
The winnerof the tournament will bring home 20,000 EUR (29,300 USD) and get thechance to participate in a round-robin super tournament in Dortmund ,Germany , in late July. The final match is on Feb. 18./.
