Vietnam’s top chess player Le Quang Liem advanced to the next round after drawing with the world’s sixth ranked Maxime Vachier Lagrave from France in the eighth round of the Gibraltar International Chess Festival.

Liem playing France’s Maxime Vachier Lagrave in the eighth round.

Liem, Elo rating 2,714, drew with first seed Lagrave, Elo 2,780 after 37 moves.  

Before this round, both players had accumulated 5.5 points from four wins and three draws. To compete for championship, Lagrave needed to beat Liem, but his efforts failed.

Following this result, Liem has not had a loss since the beginning of the tournament (four wins, four draws) and is temporarily ranked seventh on the table.   

His rival in the ninth round will be top player Yu Yangyi from China, Elo 2,764.-VNA