Chess

Bạch Ngọc Thùy Dương of Việt Nam competes at the Asian Junior Chess Championship in the Philippines on November 25. Photo of FIDE

HÀ NỘI -- Vietnamese master Bạch Ngọc Thùy Dương won one gold and one bronze at the Asian Junior Chess Championship which closed on November 25 in Tagaytay City, the Philippines.

Women International Master (WIM) Dương was seeded No 5 in the girls' standard chess event. She secured 7.5 points in nine matches - seven wins, one draw and one loss - to take her title.

WIM Rakshitta Ravi of India finished second with seven points and WIM Kairbekova Amina of Kazakhstan was third with six points.

The championship title brought Dương 37 Elo points to improve her world ranking and her first norm for the Women Grand Master (WGM) title.

To date, Dương has 2,201 points for her Elo rating. She needs two more norms and lift her Elo to 2,300 to be a WGM.

Earlier, Dương, 19, claimed a bronze in the rapid chess event. After seven games, the No 4 seed pocketed five points.

She was behind Women FIDE Master (WFM) Zahedifar Anahita of Iran who had 5.5 points and WIM Nurgali Nazerke from Kazakhstan who took 5.5 points.

Dương, however, was not successful in the blitz chess event. She placed ninth with five points after nine matches.

WFM Bhagyashree Patil of India (seven points), WIM Nazerke (six points) and WIM Ravi (six points) were the top three players, respectively.

Việt Nam also had master Đầu Khương Duy competing in the boys category but he could not win a medal.

However, the 11-year-old master, who was seeded No 17, made a surprise when he beat No 3 seed Daniel Quizon of the host during the tournament.

Duy returned home with 92.8 Elo points. Earlier this month, Khương was the youngest Vietnamese chess player earning a norm for the International Master title.

The championship was organised from November 19-25 with the participation of 32 boys and 20 girls from 10 countries and territories. 

The tournament has been held annually since 1977.

Previously, Việt Nam has had four masters, one boy and three girls, win golds here. Among them, WGM Võ Thị Kim Phụng won twice in 2000 in Chennai, India, and 2013 in Sharjah, the UAE. VNS