Liem beats Irina of US in Millionaire Chess tourney

Viet Nam's top chess player Le Quang Liem defeated Krush Irina of US in the seventh round of the Open category at the Millionaire Chess tournament in Las Vegas yesterday.

With this win, the 2013 world blitz chess champion jumped 17 places from 36th to 19th with 4.5 points.

The two-time Aeroflot Open champion will meet Margvelashvili Giorgi of Georgia in the next round.

The current leaders are So Wesley of the Philippines with six points, Robson Ray of the hosts with six points and Yu Yangyi of China with 5.5 points.

HCM City-native Liem, who is seeded third in the Open division with an ELO rating of 2806, is playing for the Webster University chess team in this US$1 million event, the highest stakes open chess tournament in history.

The event has drawn the participation of over 500 players from 43 countries around the world.

Hung wins second stage of cycling tour

Tang Tri Hung won the second stage of the Nam Ky Khoi Nghia cycling tour yesterday.

Thanh Son Hoa Nong's Hung clocked a top speed of 39.5km/h during the stage which took him from Vung Tau to Phan Thiet City in four hours, 15 minutes and four seconds.

Nguyen Truong Tai of Domesco Pharmacy Dong Thap and Hung's teammate Nguyen Minh Luan came in second and third.

Hung holds the yellow jersey with a total time of 6:08.01 after two stages.

In the team rankings, Vinh Thinh-Hoc Mon are in the lead with a total time of 18:25.50, followed by Thanh Son-Hoa Nong and VTV Can Tho.

Today, cyclists will race along the 162km stage from Phan Thiet to Phan Rang-Thap Cham City.

Earlier, Nguyen Thanh Tam of Gao Hat Ngoc Troi won the first stage.

Tam finished the 87km-long first stage from HCM City to Vung Tau City with a time of 1hr 53.14min and secured the yellow jersey temporarily.

Bui Minh Thuy of ADC-Vinh Long Television came second, followed by Nguyen Tan Hoai of Domesco Dong Thap.

Despite his top individual ranking, Tam failed to help his team in taking the lead in the team table, which was instead claimed by the ADC cyclists who clocked a total time of 5:39.42.

The 17th cycling tournament, organised by the radio station Voice of HCM City, attracts hundreds of participants from 13 strong teams nationwide.

The tournament has seven stages that will cover more than 800km.