Chess grandmaster Le Quang Liem has continued his recent run of excellent performances, moving into the lead at the 2013 Tradewise Gibraltar after winning all four of his matches.




His advance was aided by the sudden loss of UK defending champion Nigel Short as well as the draw between American Gata Kamsky and Ukrainian Vassily Ivanchuk.

Capitalising on the first move advantage of white pieces, Liem rapidly dominated Spanish rival Ivan Salgado Lopez and claimed victory after 42 moves.

Liem’s position in first faces challenges from Russia’s Nikita Vitiugov, Poland’s Dariusz Swiercz, and Eduardo’s Iturriazaga. Iturriazaga has also earned four points from his four matches.

Liem faces Iturriazaga in the next round, while Vitiugov plays Swiercz.

VOV