VietNamNet Bridge – Wang Hao of China jumped to the top six in the HDBank Cup International Open Chess Master Tournament after the fourth and fifth rounds yesterday (March 10) in HCM City.

Grandmaster Wang tied with his countryman Zhao Jun after beating GM Zhang Zhing of Singapore in an earlier match.

Zhao, with the same 4.5 points, came second.

Yesterday’s leader GM Viktor Laznicka of the Czech Republic grabbed another victory over GM Vasif Durarbayli of Azerbaijan.

Laznicka finished third while local hope GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son is at fourth position and in the second group. He beat teammate Vo Thanh Ninh in the later round match yesterday.

Master Ninh, for the first time, entered the top 10 list, scoring 3.5 points.

Four other Vietnamese masters, Pham Chuong, Tran Tuan Minh, Nguyen Anh Khoi and Dao Thien Hai, are closing in on the top 10.

In the sixth match today, Son will see the biggest rival No. 1 seed Wang. Zhao will play Zhang. Laznicka will meet Russian master Anton Shomoev.

Ninh will play Minh in an all-Vietnamese match.

Women Grandmaster Le Thị Thanh An failed to maintain her performance in the third day of competition, losing both matches. She will next meet teammate Hong Thi Bao Tram.

However, Pham Le Thao Nguyen of the hosts is strongly rising up in the ranking and has become the best female competitor with three points.

Nguyen is expected to grab a point over U-16 competitor Tin Jingyao of Singapore.

The annual tournament with the biggest ever bonus of US$40,000 is seeing more than 180 participants from 16 delegations.

The final round is scheduled on Sunday at the De Nhat Hotel ballroom.

VNS