Viet Nam News
HA NOI — Viet Nam have secured two more berths at the World Cups of chess at the Zone 3.3 Chess Championships 2017, which closed in the Philippines Sunday.
Vo Thi Kim Phung triumphed in the women’s category with seven points after nine rounds and earned the only ticket available to the World Cup next year.
Phung won the ticket after the eighth round on Saturday when she defeated Jan Jodilyn Fronda of the hosts, while leader Women’s Grand Master (WGM) Hoang Thi Bao Tram, also of Viet Nam, suffered a draw with teammate and No 1 seed Pham Le Thao Nguyen.
In the last match Sunday, Women’s International Master (WIM) Phung, 23, drew with International Master (IM) Irine Kharisma Sukandar of Indonesia, who has twice won the Asian championship titles.
Tram also had an unexpected draw against WIM Catherine Specopito of the Philippines. She failed to win back her top position and saw her World Cup ticket be awarded to Phung.
Phung also won the first of three WGM’s titles at the tournament in Tagaytay City.
Viet Nam’s women had a successful competition, with six of seven masters finishing in the top 10.
IM Nguyen, who won a ticket to the 2015 World Cup, finished fourth with 5.5 points. Viet Nam’s best female player Nguyen made her name at the recent World Cup in Iran, as one of the best 16 masters.
WGM Nguyen Thi Thanh An who was seeded No 7 came in at sixth position, winning 5.5 points.
Her teammates WGM Le Thanh Tu and Luong Phuong Hanh finished in seventh and eighth places, respectively.
Only WGM Nguyen Thi Mai Hung suffered a poor performance. The No 3 seed ranked 15th, with only 3.5 points.
The Women’s World Cup is scheduled for 2018.
In the open category, GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son grabbed a silver medal and was one of two male masters who qualified to compete in the World Cup later this year.
The No 1 seed was not among the top 10 after the first four games. But he earned four wins in a row and one draw in the next rounds, a very rapid run to finish in second place in the overall ranking, with seven points.
In the last game Sunday, Son tied Indonesian GM Susanto Megaranto.
Malaysian Yeoh Li Tian topped the category with the same number of points, but he won due to better parameters.
The two masters drew even with each other in the round three match.
Two years ago at the qualification held in Viet Nam, Son also won his ticket to the World Cup, which was held in 2015.
This year’s World Cup for men will be organised in September in Georgia.
Apart from Son, Viet Nam No 1 Le Quang Liem will also take part in the World Cup. Son won his slot after he triumphed at the Asian championship last year. — VNS