VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnamese representatives took the top three spots after their remarkable results at the Asian 3.3 Zonal Chess Championship's Open Division which included yesterday's seventh round in the Philippines.

Women Grandmaster (WGM) Nguyen Thi Thanh An continued her great tournament with six points from seven rounds.

She yesterday, Jan 27, defeated Filippino Galas Bernadette and will play teammate WGM Hoang Thi Bao Tram today.

Tram, currently in second place, trounced Women's International Master (WIM) Medina Warda Aulia of Indonesia, to take her tally to 4.5 points. Third place went to WIM Nguyen Thi Mai Hung who won over Batchimeg Tuvshintugs of Mongolia. The former world U14 champion will play Pham Le Thao Nguyen in an all-Vietnamese match.

Nguyen and teammate Hoang Thi Nhu Y also won their round match.

In the Open draw, Vietnamese Grandmaster (GM) Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son sat in second place.

Son, the former world U10 champion, was tied by host rival, GM Antonio Rogelio Jr, and dropped from top position which he assumed after the sixth round on Saturday.

Son, who has pocketed 5.5 points, will play teammate GM Cao Sang next match. Sang yesterday beat Mongolian International Master (IM) Gundavaa Bayarsaikhan, and ranked fourth overall.

No 1 seed So Wesley of the Philippines defeated Vietnamese IM Nguyen Duc Hoa and returned to lead the division.

The Vietnamese took two draws thanks to No 4 seed GM Dao Thien Hai and IM Nguyen Van Huy. Meanwhile Tran Tuan Minh was the only loser of the round.

The Filippino tournament will provide two berths for men and one for women to compete at the Men's World Chess Cup and the Women's World Championships in Tromso, Norway, from August 10 to September 5.

In other chess events, the only GM from Viet Nam, Le Quang Liem, dominated the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival's Masters Division.

Liem, the two-time Aeroflot Open champion, won all five round matches and scored five points.

On Saturday he beat GM Iturrizaga Eduardo of Venezuela. His next rival will be Nikita Vitiugov of Russia, who is now ranked second.

The annual Gibraltar festival, which will conclude on Thursday, provides up to 155,000 pounds (US$244,400) to the winners.

Source: VNS