International Master Le Tuan Minh defeated Grandmaster Gordievsky Dmitry of Russia at the HDBank International Chess Open Tournament’s sixth-round match in Hanoi on March 13 to replace his rival at the top position.


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Le Tuan Minh of Vietnam (L) ranks third after fifth round of the HDBank Chess Open



The 22-year-old master, who is seeded No.22 with the elo 2,489, was considered inferior to No.5 seed Dmitry, as his elo rating was nearly 200 points lower than the Russian, who won all his games ahead of their meet.

However, he forced Dmitry to surrender after 54 moves.

With 5.5 points after six matches, Minh is one of the three players who have not lost yet. Two others are No.2 seed GM Wang Hao of China and No.4 seed GM Mareco Sandro of Argentina.

He will play Wang in the next match.

Also in the sixth round, Vietnam’s GM Le Quang Liem, who is seeded No.1, drew India’s Erigasi Arjun. Liem has 4.5 points after six matches. 

After seven editions in Ho Chi Minh City, this is the first time the HDBank Cup International Open Chess tournament has been held in Hanoi. It is the biggest professional chess tourney in Vietnam and Southeast Asia and a competition in the World Chess Federation’s system. 

The event, scheduled to last through March 15, attracted about 270 players from 21 countries and territories. It offers a total of 55,000 USD in prizes, an increase of about 20 percent compared to last year.-VNA