Top-seed Le Quang Liem and second-seed Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son failed to win top prizes at the HDBank 2011 chess tournament, which wrapped up Sunday in Ho Chi Minh City’s Rex Hotel.
After nine matches, these grandmasters each earned 6.5 points and were ranked at 4th and 5th respectively. They were awarded $1,500 each.
“They are considered top contenders for the championship so are under great pressure. In addition, their rivals are all excited to compete with them because they think it’s an honor to defeat the top-seeds and nothing to lose if they fail,” Vietnamese chess coach Lam Minh Chau said.
Grandmaster Yu Yangyi from China with 7 points won the championship title with a cash prize of $6,000 while his fellowman Wen Yang contented with the second prize of $4,000.
Meanwhile in the women single, Vietnamese chess player Nguyen Thi Mai Huong secured the top prize with 4.5 points after nine matches and was awarded cash prize of $600.
The organizers also awarded two “Promising Young Chess Player” prizes to Le Thanh Tai of Vietnam and Lu Shanglei of China.
The week-long tournament has attracted 30 Vietnamese players and 35 others from China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand and Ukraine.
