Lê Quang Liêm ranks fifth at the Asian Continental Chess Championships 2019 in Xingtai, China on Thursday. – Photo thanhnien.vn

Liêm, who has an Elo rating of 2,694, tied with Maghsoodloo Parham of Iran (Elo 2,665) after 75 moves in the seventh match.

With three wins and four draws, Liêm gained five points to rank fifth out of 74 players.

The former world blitz chess champion Liêm will next face Iranian Firouzja Alireza (Elo 2,682) in the eighth round.

Meanwhile, other Vietnamese representative, Nguyễn Ngọc Trường Sơn ranks 12th with 4.5 points following his draw with Idani Pouya of India in the seventh match.

On the women’s side, Phạm Lê Thảo Nguyên is in eighth place with 4.5 points. The top place belongs to Saduakassova Dinara of Kazakhstan with six points. The runners-up are Sukandar Irine Kharisma and Kulkarni Bhakti from India. — VNS