Vietnamese Grandmasters Le Quang Liem and Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son . — Photo zing.vn

HCM CITY  (VNS) — Vietnamese Grandmasters Le Quang Liem and Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son defeated their rivals in the fifth round to top the men's side of the Zone 3.3 qualifying round at the World Chess Championships 2015 in HCM City yesterday.

No 1 seed Liem beat GM Zhang Zhong of Singapore to take lead with 4.5 points, while Son bested his teammate FIDE Master Le Tuan Minh to rank second with 4.5 points.

The 2013 world blitz champion Liem will meet Son in the sixth round today.

Third place is currently held by International Master Wynn Zaw Htun of Myanmar, who beat GM Sadorra Julio Catalino of the Philippines to claim four points. Htun will face GM Zhang Zhong of Singapore in the next round.

In the women's event, Vietnamese IM Pham Le Thao Nguyen maintained her lead with 4.5 points after drawing with No 1 seed Munguntuul Batkhuyag of Mongolia in the fifth round.

Batkhuyag is currently in second place with four points.

No 3 seeded Nguyen will meet her teammate No 9 seed Pham Thi Thu Hien in the next round. — VNS