VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam’s top male chess player Le Quang Liem defeated Turkish current champion Dragan Solak on September 5. Liem’s victory helped improve the position of the Vietnam’s male team. Meanwhile, the female team was trounced by Indian rivals.

Quang Liem and his Turkish rival in the eight round.

After the 8th round, Vietnam’s male team jumped 11 grades to 23rd while the female team fell from 7th to 16th. However, the female team’s performance is more highly appreciated than the male team by experts.

In the sixth round, the male team got a 2-2 draw with Egypt, which ranks 37th compared to Vietnam’s 27th position while the female team (28th) defeated the Czech Republic (23rd) for 3-1. Both Le Kieu Thien Kim and Nguyen Thi Mai Hung played very well.

In the seventh round, the male team got a disappointed draw against Turkey 2016 team. In this round, Quang Liem was absent and Truong Son replaced him at the No. 1 table. Liem had a draw with Burak Firat (Elo 2423) while Dao Thien Hai was quickly defeated by Muhammed Batuhan Dastan (Elo 2317). Nguyen Duc Hoa also got a draw. Only Nguyen Van Huy defeated Ali Marandi (2362).

As the host country, Turkey has up to three teams competing at the 2012 world chess Olympiad, including the major team, the Turkey 2016 and the Turkey 2013.

In this round, Vietnamese female players still showed their stable manner. They got another draw with Serbia (the 9th seed). Le Kieu Thien Kim saved the team by defeating Maria Manakova (2306).

In the eighth round, Quang Liem returned to No. 1 table. Duc Hoa and Van Huy got draw so the results depended on Quang Liem and Truong Son. Quang Liem defeated his rival after 58 moves while Truong Son also won the difficult game.

The female team was defeated by India (the 6th seed) in this round, after six consecutive unbeaten rounds. Bich Ngoc failed early after making many mistakes. Thien Kim was also defeated by her outstanding rival.

Thao Nguyen and Mai Huong played better than their rivals. However, Thao Nguyen got a draw while Mai Huong won the game.

In the 9th round, the male team will face the UK (11th seed) while the female team will confront the 9th seed – Germany.

Compiled by S. Tung