Vietnam enters world team chess tournament

Vietnam is among 18 teams that have won all three of their first matches. After struggling to beat Iraq 2.5-1.5 in the second match, the Vietnamese players created a bigger gap in their victory over Bangladesh yesterday, September 26. For the first time since the beginning of the tournament, Quang Liem (Elo 2,715) and Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son (2,620) both played. Both, along with Tran Tuan Minh (2,491), created three victories against the South Asian representatives.

Vietnam's number one player - Quang Liem - took white and sacrificed a pawn to attack Mollah Abdullah's castle (2,472). He kept the initiative from start to finish and won after 39 moves, with the threat of checkmate after two moves.

Truong Son also had a convincing win against Ziaur Rahman (2.477) despite holding black. The 28-year-old player was threatened by his opponent's castle with a push of the g4 pawn. But he calmly responded with a counterattack against White's castle on the queenside (far castling). Truong Son brought the black pawn to b2, then accepted to exchange the queen for a rook and bishop to put the pieces in the ultimate position. White surrendered on move 40 when there was no more chance of counterattack even though he still had the queen.

Tuan Minh's victory was equally impressive with a crucial opening sacrifice against Mohammad Fahad (2.263). The 21-year-old Grandmaster's aim was to weaken his opponent's black pawn structure on the queenside. At the same time, he strengthened his white pawn formation on the same side, with a four-to-two (pawn) advantage. The game ended after 41 moves with White's interesting knight-jump to checkmate the king and capture the rook. In the remaining game, 16-year-old Nguyen Anh Khoi (2.463) drew with Enamul Hossain (2.452).

Vietnam will play table one in the fourth round, against the team with the best record since the beginning of the tournament. France also won all three of their first matches, with the highest number of game points in the tournament (11.5). They are the seventh seed, with the master Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2,780). The remaining French players are all rated higher than 2,600.

The Vietnamese women's team also won 3.5-0.5 against Lithuania. Apart from Vo Thi Kim Phung's (2,368) draw with Deimante Cornette (2,462), the remaining three players all won against opponents with lower Elo. Pham Le Thao Nguyen (2,347) and Hoang Thi Bao Tram (2,323) defeated Salomeja Zaksaite (2,278) and Daiva Batyte (2,172). Meanwhile, 15-year-old Bach Ngoc Thuy Duong (2,161) had her third consecutive win when she defeated Marija Sibajeva (1,980).

Kim Phung and his teammates have the highest winning score in the tournament (11.5). They will meet the host Georgia 1 in the fourth round. This is the strongest team of the three host teams, with star Nana Dzagnidze (2,509). The remaining players of Georgia 1 also have Elo higher than 2,400.