Vietnam’s women players tied with title candidate China 2-2 in the third round match of the 42nd Chess Olympiad in Baku, Azerbaizan, yesterday.

Women’s Grandmaster Nguyen Thi Mai Hung successfully defeated GM Zhao Xue, following her teammate International master Pham Le Thao Nguyen’s loss to GM Hou Yifan.

WGM Hoang Thi Bao Tram and WGM Nguyen Thi Thanh An drew against GM Ju Wenjun and WGM Tan Zhongyi, respectively, in other boards.

All the Chinese masters have better Elo ratings compared with their Vietnamese rivals.

With two wins and one draw, Vietnam rank No 17, one point less than the top-ranked Russia, who beat Uzbekistan 3-1 yesterday.

They will next play No16-ranked Spain.

On the men’s side, the Vietnamese lost 1,5-2,5 to the Netherlands in the third round.

The team’s best GM Le Quang Liem was defeated by GM Giri Anish in the No 1 board.

Three other matches ended with drawn results.

The Vietnamese will play Ireland in the fourth match. 

VNS