Young talents shine at masters tourney

The two Vietnamese registered an impressive performance on March 11, winning the sixth round matches at De Nhat Hotel in HCM City.

The 13-year-old Khoi, the former U12 world champion, successfully tied with former national No 1 and his coach Dao Thien Hai after 30 moves and jumped to No 14 in the ranking. His teammate Minh did a better job, being placed at fifth, after beating Vo Thanh Ninh in an all-Vietnamese match. Minh, 19, with 4.5 points has the best ranking among all local masters after six rounds.

The top hope of Vietnam, Grandmaster Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son who is seeded No 4 here, is at No 6 with four points. On March 11, he lost to No 1 seed Wang Hao of China, who is firmly at the top position with 5.5 points. Zhao Jun, also of China, has the same points but ranks second. He is followed by Viktor Laznicka of the Czech Republic, on five points.

In the next round on March 12, the highlights are clashes between Khoi and Russian Anton Shomoev, and Minh versus No 2 seed Ni Hua from China. GM Son is expected to have the chance to go further when he meets with IM Le Tuan Minh next round.

In the women’s category, Vietnam No 1 Pham Le Thao Nguyen drew with Singapore’s U16 player Tin Jingyao. Nguyen, who has 3.5 points to top the group, will next play countryman Tu Hoang Thong. Li Roufan of Singapore and Chinese Zhou Guijue are second and third, respectively.

In the Challenger Tournament, eight masters from Vietnam are in the top 10. Pham Minh Hieu is in the lead with six points, followed by teammate Le Thanh Tai.

The only two foreign players in this group are Martin Gaticales in third place and Ting Marvin in the tenth position, both of the Philippines.