HA NOI — Asian xiangqi (Chinese chess) champion Ngo Lan Huong received a silver medal in the women's category at the SportAccord World Mind Games 2011 which ended in China yesterday.

Huong earned seven points after drawing with Australia's Liu Bi Jun and beating the US's Take Aki, three points fewer than the host nation's Jin Hai Ying. Liu Bi Jun, who stands behind Huong, earned four points. In this case, the first and second positions were finalised prior to the final round.

In the men's category, Vietnamese master Nguyen Hoang Lam lost his last two games to miss out on a medal. Chinese player Jiang Chuan secured his place as a champion.

International grandmaster Le Quang Liem did not make it to the medal round in blindfolded chess. During the tournament, he defeated Chinese Wang Yue and Cuban Dominguez Perez, drew with Russian Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin and lost to Ukranian Rusland Olegovich Ponomariov. The Vietnamese master finished in 14th place out of 16 with 6.5 points in rapid chess and in 10th position out of 16 with six points in blitz chess.

With Huong's silver, the Vietnamese delegation stood at the 13th position. The host nation lead the medal tally with eight gold, two silver and one bronze. The US took the second place with four gold, one silver and four bronze while Russia palmed three gold, two silver and one bronze medals. — VNS