Viet Nam's top chess player Le Quang Liem lost to China's Hou Yifan in the eighth round of the ongoing Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival in the UK.

The loss means that Liem will struggle to make the top three with just two games left to play.

Hou, who is the current women's world champion, had already defeated International Grandmasters Zoltan Almasi and Judit Polgar, and drew with Michael Adams.

In 2008, Liem met 18-year-old Hou at the World Junior Chess Championships but lost to his Chinese rival despite having an equal Elo rating of 2577.

In his next game, fifth seed Liem will meet 22-year-old rival Anna Muzychuk of Slovenia.. - VNS