Grandmaster Le Quang Liem won yesterday to end the day in second place at the Asian Continental Chess Championships in the Philippines.

Liem defeated GM Laylo Darwin of the host nation in the men's fourth round of the event. He now has 3.5 points and will next meet GM Lalith Babu of Indonesia.

GM Dao Thien Hai of Viet Nam also played his way to victory over Filipino Emperado Emmanuel. Meanwhile the fixtures between other masters ended in draws.

In the women's category, three Vietnamese players, Hoang Thi Nhu Y, Nguyen Thi Thanh An and Pham Le Thao Nguyen, won three points to close the gap on the current leader Munguntuul Batkhuyag to 0.5 points.

The top players will win entry to the world championships in Norway this September.-VNS