Phạm Lê Thảo Nguyên and Wang Hao pose with their HDBank trophies. Photo coutersy of HDBank

HCM CITY — Vietnamese master Phạm Lê Thảo Nguyên took the crown in the HD Bank Cup International Open Chess Masters women’s category tournament yesterday.

Also, international master Nguyên defeated FIDE master Low Zhen Yu Cyrus of Singapore in the ninth round match and scored five points to keep the gold medal at home.

Last year, her teammate Lê Kiều Thiên Kim took the title.

The silver medal went to Gong Qianyun, a Women’s IM from Singapore, with five points. She was followed by Nguyễn Thị Thanh An of Việt Nam with four points.

Chinese Grandmaster Wang Hao won the men’s title, turning back strong attacks by the host athletes.

Yesterday, Wang defeated Vietnamese GM Nguyễn Anh Dũng after 25 moves.

He earned eight points after nine matches and stood firmly in the top position from the third round until the end. He walked away with a bonus of US$13,000.

His teammate Zhao Jun came in second with 7.5 points, followed by Viktor Laznicka from the Czech Republic, who had seven points.

Vietnamese top male hope Nguyễn Ngọc Trường Sơn placed No 5.

In the Challenger Tournaments, all gold medals went to Vietnamese masters.

Lê Thành Tài made strong moves in the final matches to top the men’s class with eight points. 

Meanwhile, Đoàn Thị Hồng Nhung secured the women’s title with 6.5 points.

After the Cup, two masters, Bogdanovich Stanislav of Ukraine and Ghosh Diptayan of India, were awarded Grandmaster titles. Meanwhile, five others, including four players from Việt Nam, earned International master titles.

The sixth tournament included some 180 athletes from 16 delegations. The annual event offers a bonus in cash of up to US$40,000 for the best players. — VNS