Chess master Pham Le Thao Nguyen (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - Pham Le Thao Nguyen achieved the best result of the Vietnamese masters in the 2017 King Salman World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships, held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on December 26.
Nguyen ranked third in the first five matches, with four points after three wins and two draws, in the women’s category. In the first two games, she had no difficulty beating Enkhtuul Altan-Ulzii from Mongolia and Doluhanova Evgeniya of Ukraine.
She then successfully drew No. 5 seed Grandmaster (GM) Nana Dzagnidze of Georgia and No. 12 GM Harika Dronavalli of India in the third and fifth games, respectively.
Her best result is a win over Armenian GM Elina Danielian, No. 10, after 52 moves.
Among the other female masters, Hoang Thi Bao Tram has three points, Asian champion Vo Thi Kim Phung won 2.5 points and Nguyen Thi Mai Hung earned 1.5 points.
The top two players are Chinese GM Ju Wenjun (with five points) and GM Bela Khotenashvili of Georgia (with four points).
In the Open pool, former world blitz chess champion Le Quang Liem recorded only three points after two wins, two draws and one loss. He ranks No. 56.
His teammate, Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, is at No. 83, with 2.5 points.
The three leading athletes are Russian GM Vladimir Fedoseev (4.5 points), Baadur Jobava of Georgia (4.5 points) and Alexander Gischuk from Russia (four points).-VNA
VNA
