Liêm, Sơn win rapid chess event

HÀ NỘI – Vietnamese chess players Lê Quang Liêm and Nguyễn Ngọc Trường Sơn won another gold medal at the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG) in Turkmenistan yesterday, beating their Chinese opponents  一. 五-0. 五 in the men’s team rapid chess event.

Grandmaster (GM)  Liêm defeated Wang Yue, while GM Sơn tied with Li Chao.

Earlier in the semi-finals, the Vietnamese players beat hosts Turkmensitan  二- 一.

In the first two matches, Liêm and Sơn drew with Meilis Annaberdiev and Saparmyrat Atabayev respectively. In the decisive game, Liêm bested Annaberdiev to take Việt Nam to the final.

Fifteen teams participated in the rapid chess event. They competed over five rounds to get to the semifinals. At the end of five rounds, Việt Nam was ranked third, entering the semifinals alongside China, Turkmenistan and Qatar.

On the women’s side, Phạm Lê Thảo Nguyên and Nguyễn Thị Thanh An bagged a bronze medal after losing to Chinese rivals in their semifinal match.

Việt Nam have thus far won two gold medals in chess. On Sunday, Liêm won a gold in the men’s individual standard category.

“This is a special day for me as it is the first time that I have won two gold medals in one event,” Liêm said.

“I am always confident when playing with Liêm. Our co-ordination and teamwork is perfect,” said Sơn.

Liêm, who began playing chess at the age of seven, has won several prestigious prizes, including the blitz championship title at the  二0 一 三 World Blitz and the Rapid Chess championships. He also won the overall championship title at the HDBank International Open Chess Tournaments in  二0 一 三,  二0 一 五 and  二0 一 七.

With Liêm contesting, Việt Nam is expected to win one more gold medal in the men’s team’s blitz chess division.

With  一 二 gold, seven silver and  一 九 bronze medals, Việt Nam ranks eighth in the AIMAG medal tally. — VNS