HÀ NÔI — Hoàng Thị Bảo Trâm of Việt Nam maintained her position as the No 1 master in Zone 3.3 Chess Championship’s women’s category after four rounds.

Women’s Grandmaster (WGM) Trâm, who has not lost any game in the event being held in the Philippines, drew against her teammate Nguyễn Thị Thanh An on Tuesday and had 3.5 points to rank first.

WGM An came second with three points.

Trâm will play Women’s International Master (WIM) Gong Qianyun in the next round, while An will meet WIM Võ Thị Kim Phụng. Phụng jumped two steps to No. 4 after her win over Christy Lamiel Bernales from the host team.

WGM Lê Thanh Tú tied against Jan Jodilyn Fronda of the Philippines, and slipped from No 5 to No 6 position.

Việt Nam’s masters have suffered three losses so far. No 1 seed IM Phạm Lê Thảo Nguyên has not found her best performance yet. She was defeated by IM Irine Kharisma Sukandar of Indonesia. With only 1.5 points, Nguyên is at No 15 and her chances of victory are low.

Both Lương Phương Hạnh and WGM Nguyễn Thị Mai Hưng too have suffered defeats. While Hạnh is at No 9, Hưng is at No 16.

In the open category, Vietnamese GM Nguyễn Huỳnh Minh Huy was down at No 3 after his draw to Susanto Megaranto of Indonesia in round four.

With three points, Huy will meet Filipino IM Oliver Dimakiling in the next match.

Another Vietnamese in the top 10 is IM Nguyễn Văn Huy, who has 2.5 points and ranks seventh.

No 1 seed GM Nguyễn Ngọc Trường Sơn, however, has not warmed up yet. He has pocketed only 2.5 points so far and is at No 11. He has one point less than the leading master, FIDE Master Yeoh Li Tian of Malaysia.

Sơn, Nguyên’s husband, will get the opportunity to improve his standing in the fifth-round match against Singapore’s IM Tin Jingyao. — VNS