Vietnamese chess grandmaster Le Quang Liem tied Ding Liren in the second match of the Hainan Danzhou Super Grandmaster Chess Tournament in China on July 10.

It was the second draw for both sides. On July 9, Vietnamese Liem drew Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine, while Ding leveled with his countryman Wang Hao.

In a tense game against two grandmasters, Liem was at a disadvantage as he had black pieces. However the former world blitz chess champion succeeded in maintaining an equal footing under the strong attack of the host rival.

After 45 moves they shook hands for a draw. All other matches also resulted in draws.

Liem with one point after two matches ranks fourth, while Ding is second with the same points.

Wei Yi of China continues leading the 10-athlete tournament with 1.5 points.

The Vietnamese will meet Yu Yangyi of China; Ding will see Lu Shanglei in an all-China game on July 11.

The eighth super grandmaster from July 9 to 19 is beiing held in Danzhou on the island province of Hainan.

Players compete in a single round-robin system that features five international grandmasters and the top Chinese players.

The total prize fund is US$60,000, with US$20,000 for first place.

VNS