Talented Vietnamese chess player Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son

In his final match of the tournament, the Kien Giang-born player, Elo rating 2636, tied with Zhou Jianchao of China, Elo rating 2608, after 23 moves played.

In total, Son earned five and a half points after recording three wins, five draws, and one loss after nine games played. This left him at number 10 in the tournament’s rankings.

During the course of the competition, he faced three foreign super grand masters and came away with a respectable record of one loss and two draws against them.

In addition to these fixtures, Son suffered a narrow defeat to Wang Hao of the host country, Elo rating 2737, while also holding Russian rival Maxim, Elo rating 2701, and Chinese player Wei Yi, Elo rating 2737, to draws.

Thanks to his results at the International Chess Open, Son walked away with US$2,500 in prize money and earned a total of seven Elo points.

Vietnamese chess player Le Quang Liem

Elsewhere in the competition, Le Quang Liem, the nation’s highest ranked chess player, found himself in poor form and was only able to earn five points with a record of two wins, six draws, and one loss, coming in 28th position overall.

Liem also lost 18 Elo points as a result of his poor performances.

Following the completion of the tournament, the country’s two leading chess players will compete at the Chess World Cup 2019 which will take place in Russia in early September. VOV