Grandmaster Le Quang Liem still stands at the top of the rankings for the Spice Cup Chess Tournament, adding draws wins yesterday in the US.— File Photo

HA NOI — (VNS) Grandmaster Le Quang Liem still stands at the top of the rankings for the Spice Cup Chess Tournament, adding draws wins yesterday in the US.

The Vietnamese who is the No 1 seed was tied by host GMs Mackenzie Molner and Alexander Shabalov in the fifth and fourth rounds, respectively.

After five rounds, Liem, world ranked No 34 has four points, as many as his runners-up Alexander Ipatov of Turkey and Molner. In the next match he will play No 3 seed Ipatov.

This year, the winner of the tournament will walk away with US$4,000 in a total of $11,000 bonus. — VNS