Vietnam hopes to secure 3 slots at Chess World Cup
By Hoang Quynh, Thanh Nien News
HO CHI MINH CITY – Thursday, February 26, 2015 20:00
The National Chess Team aims to have three players qualified for the Chess World Cup 2015 as Vietnam is set to host the regional qualifying round from March 7-16.
“If the players maintain their good skills, we will be quite able to secure the region’s three tickets to the global event,” said Coach Lam Minh Chau.
The Tan Binh Gymnasium in Ho Chi Minh City is the venue for the qualifying round of some countries in the East Asian region, excluding China.
Chau said that in the men’s category, the number 1 seed Le Quang Liem, no. 2 seed Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son and other top players are ready to compete with competitors from Singapore, the Philippines and Mongolia.
“Their strongest opponent is the Singapore-naturalized Chinese player Zhang Zhong with 2,614 Elo points. He is an experienced player who has shown strong performance at international events,” he said.
Liem has 2,676 points and Son 2,659 points in the World Chess Federation’s Elo rating system.
Meanwhile, Vietnamese female players will face greater challenges competing for only one ticket to the World Cup.
Pham Le Thao Nguyen, Hoang Thi Bao Tram, Hoang Thi Nhu Y, Nguyen Thi Thanh An and Nguyen Thi Mai Hung are not as highly evaluated as Munguntuul Batkhuyag of Mongolia and Li Ruofan of Singapore.
Ruofan is Zhang Zhong’s wife and the Chinese couple now plays for Singapore.
The Chess World Cup 2015 will be hosted by Baku, Azerbaijan from September 10 to October 4 with 128 players competing in the single-elimination chess tournament.
Source: http://www.thanhniennews.com
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar