Formidable foes in bid for Asian title
Updated May, 04 2012 10:00:57
HCM CITY — China and India will be tough to beat in the 2012 Asian Chess Championships, Dang Tat Thang, deputy chairman of the Viet Nam Chess Federation, has said.
“China and India have been sending their top players to the tournament and they will be our main challengers,” he said. “Viet Nam’s goal is to be in the medals bracket and to win tickets to the World Cup.”
Le Quang Liem and Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, who both won tickets to the World Chess Cup last year, will be the two main hopes as the country aims for its first Asian chess title since 2000, when WGM Hoang Thanh Trang won the women’s category at Udaipur in India.
There are grounds for hope as Liem, the world No 42, has an Elo rating of 2703, the highest among all the players. He is seeded No 1 at the tournament, while Son is seeded fourth.
However, Liem and Son will have to face many top Chinese players, including Ding Liren, two-time champion of Chinese chess championships, as well as Ni Hua and Yu Yangyi, who have each won the HD Bank Chess Open, the biggest chess competition in Viet Nam.
Among the 17 players from India, Gupta Abhijeet, an Asian gold medalist, and Negi Parimarjan, the youngest Grand Master in India, both have an Elo rating of more than 2600. They have skill equal to the Chinese and Vietnamese players.
In the women’s category, Pham Le Thao Nguyen will have even tougher task as she is the fifth seed behind top-seeded Zhao Xue, second-seeded Ju Wenjun, fourth-seeded Tan Zhongyi from China and third-seeded Munguntuul Batkhuyag from Mongolia.
The championships will also determine the tickets to the World Chess Cup next year. Five top players in the men’s category and the winner in the women’s category will qualify.
The annual competition includes 115 players from 15 countries. It is being organised for the first time in Viet Nam, with total prize money of US$65,000.
The winner in the men’s category will receive $6,000, the second $5,000 and the third $4,000.
In the women’s division, the winner will pocket $3,000, the second $2,000 and the third $1,500.
The tournament takes place in HCM City from today. — VNS
Source: http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn
Hope Wesley will win it.