HA NOI (VNS) — Vietnamese masters dominated the ASEAN Age Group Chess Championships, which is being held at Macau, after the first rounds.

FIDE Women's Master Nguyen Thi Mai Hung yesterday won over FIDE Master Hafiz Arif Abdul of Indonesia in the boys' U20 category.

The Vietnamese, who has just collected the last standard to become an International Women's Grandmaster, will next face teammate Nguyen Anh Khoi in the second round.

Khoi had defeated Ruaya Virgen Gil of the Philippines yesterday. The world U10 champion is currently only 12 years old.

Another Vietnamese in this pool is Dang Hoang Son. He also bagged a win over Ye Jianmeng from China. He will face Foo Zhi Rong Benjamin of Singapore next.

Viet Nam also triumphed in all other age categories except for the boys' U16.

The masters will compete in nine rounds, with the finals scheduled on June 16 at the Cotai Sands Conference Centre. — VNS