Việt Nam’s teams played to draws against strong rivals in the 10th round of the ongoing 2018 Chess Olympiad in Batumi, Georgia on Thursday.

The Việt Nam men’s chess team. — FIDE Photo

Việt Nam’s male team, with an average Elo rating of 2576, tied with Germany (Elo 2628).

Playing with the white pieces, Grandmaster Lê Quang Liêm drew with Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter on board one after 52 moves.

On board two, Nguyễn Ngọc Trường Sơn played to a draw with George Meier after just 28 moves.

Trần Tuấn Minh and 16-year-old Nguyễn Anh Khôi tied with Bluebaum Matthias and Fridman Daniel respectively.

With five wins, four draws and one loss, the team is in 13th place out of 185 teams in the world. They will face the Philippines in the last round. With a win, Việt Nam is likely to rank in the top 10.

On the women’s side, Việt Nam has an average Elo of 2321. The team tied with Hungary, which has a higher rating of 2344.

Võ Thị Kim Phụng was defeated by Vietnamese Hungarian Hoàng Thanh Trang. Meanwhile Phạm Lê Thảo Nguyên – Sơn’s wife – beat Gara Anita after 55 moves despite taking the black pawns.

Nguyễn Thị Mai Hưng and Bạch Ngọc Thùy Dương alo tied with their rivals.

Việt Nam will next face Azerbaijan (Elo 2369). If they win, they will also finish the prestigious event in top 10. — VNS