Vietnam secured all three tickets to the 2015 World Chess Championship.

After more than a week of competition in Ho Chi Minh City, the World Chess Championship qualifying round - Zone 3.3 concluded on the afternoon of March 15th with a resounding victory for the home team.

Vietnamese chess players have brilliantly secured all three regional spots to participate in the 2015 World Chess Championship.

Having already secured his place at the world championship, in the 9th game, Vietnam's number one player Le Quang Liem played cautiously to achieve a draw with his opponent Oliver Barbosa, thereby winning the men's category with 7.5 points.

Chess player Le Quang Liem. Photo: VNA

The remaining spot in the men's category is being fiercely contested between Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son and Zhang Zhong (Singapore).

Despite facing Torre Eugenio (Philippines) at a disadvantage playing with the black pieces (going second), Truong Son still demonstrated his high level of skill and form by defeating his opponent after 57 moves.

With this victory, Truong Son and Quang Liem secured the two tickets in the men's group of region 3.3.

Meanwhile, chess player Pham Le Thao Nguyen (seeded number 3) had a successful tournament, securing the only qualifying spot in the women's category with 7.5 points.

In the final game, with her solid playing style, Thao Nguyen forced Mikee Charlene to concede defeat after 57 moves.

Besides Thao Nguyen, the host country also has three other players in the top 5 of the women's category. This is a great effort by Thao Nguyen as well as the Vietnamese female players, because the top seed Munguntuul Batkhuyag (Mongolia, who finished second with 7 points) was highly regarded in this tournament.

With the men's championship title, Quang Liem received a prize of $2,000, while Thao Nguyen won $1,000 for the women's championship. This is a fantastic achievement for Vietnamese chess in particular and Vietnamese sports in general in 2015.

This year's World Chess Championship qualifying round - Zone 3.3 features 44 male and 20 female players from countries and territories including South Korea, Mongolia, Thailand, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, and host country Vietnam. Vietnam boasts the largest contingent with 38 players (22 men and 16 women).

Following this tournament, Vietnam's top chess players will continue to compete at the HDBank International Chess Tournament 2015, taking place from March 17-23 in Ho Chi Minh City.

According to Vietnam+