Vietnamese Women’s Grandmaster (GM), Vo Thi Kim Phung, finished 10 at the London Chess Classic’s FIDE Open category, which closed on Saturday.

Vietnamese Women’s Grandmaster Vo Thi Kim Phung (right) stands at 10 at the London Chess Classic’s FIDE Open category. — Photo baomoi.com

Phung won one match and lost one match on the last day of the tournament.

Her only defeat to GM Sebastien Maze of France here denied her a place in the top three.

With 6.5 points after nine games, Phung, the No. 61 seed, shared the No. 10 position with 14 other masters.

The winner was GM Gabriel Sargissan of Armenia who grabbed 7.5 points. He was followed by country-fellow, Hrant Melkumyan, and Maze.

Phung, however, topped the ranking for the women’s masters in London and received a bonus of 500 pounds (US$670).

She also received 44.8 Elo points, to reach a total of 2,425 points and enter the world’s top 50 and Viet Nam’s No 1 spots.

By exceeding 2,400 points, Phung grabbed her second norm on her way to become a Grandmaster.

Her next tournament will be the world rapid and blitz chess championship in Saudi Arabia, which will begin on December 24. — VNS