Vo Thi Kim Phung took the lead of the Asian Continental Chess Championships’ Women’s Category in China on May 19.

Vo Thi Kim Phung

Phung beat Indian Ramesh Babu Vaishali in the eighth round to lead with seven points. She will meet Mary Ann Gomes of India in the next round.

Guliskhan Nakhbayeva of Kazakhstan and Gomes are second and third with 6.5 points and 5.5 points, respectively.

Two other Vietnamese masters Hoang Thi Bao Tram and Pham Le Thao Nguyen sit in fifth and sixth place. Tram tied with Lei Tingjie of China, while Nguyen drew with Gomes in the seventh round. They now both have 5.5 points.

Tram will face Nakhbayeva of Kazakhstan, while Nguyen will play with Swati Ghate of India in the ninth round.

In the Open Category, Vidit Santosh Gujrathi of India leads. He crushed Jinshi Bai of China in the eighth round, leaving him with six points. Gujrathi will next meet Yu Yangyi of China.

Vietnamese representatives, Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son and Tran Tuan Minh are in 18th and 19th place.

VNA