VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam’s top chess player Le Quang Liem suffered unexpected loss in the first round of the 25th Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday.

Le Quang Liem. — Photo thanhuytphcm.vn

Liem, who has an Elo rating of 2,727, was the No 1 seed of the event and lost to young talent VS Rathanvel of India, Elo 2,348 after 59 moves.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese young talent Nguyen Anh Khoi took advantage of a good start to beat Senthil Maran of India after 38 moves.

With Elo 2,453, Khoi, 16, is national chess defending champion.

Liem will next meet Indian Dixit Nikhil (Elo 2,240) and Khoi faces Amin Bassem of Egypt (Elo 2,684).

The event, which is a nine-round Swiss open restricted to players with a FIDE rating of 2,100 and above, will end on August 15.

The winner will receive US$13,000. The time control is 90 minutes for the entire game plus a 30-second increment starting from move one. 

Source: VNS