VietNamNet Bridge – Argentine grandmaster Alan Pichot topped the Masters category of the eighth HDBank Cup International Open Chess 2018 in Hanoi yesterday.

Argentine grandmaster Pichot Alan. — Photo sportskeeda.com

After three rounds, the No 6 ranked Argentine had three points to lead the 132 masters who have Elo ratings — a measure for evaluating a player’s strength — of 2,100 for men and 2,000 for women, reflecting their word-class abilities.

Vietnamese Tran Tuan Minh and Karthikeyan Murali of India re second and third, both with three points.

Other Vietnamese representatives Lu Chan Hung and No 1 seed Le Quang Liem earned 2.5 points but Hung ranked eighth on a tie-breaker, while HCM City-born player Liem stands in 12th place.

Today, Liem, world No 22, will face Pandian Karthikeyan of India in the fourth round.

The event offers a total bonus of US$55,000, an increase of about 20 per cent compared to last year. 

Source: VNS