Viet Nam's No 1 chess player Le Quang Liem opened his campaign at the 4^th HDBank International Open Chess Tournament with a facile victory over Borsos Bogdan of Ukraine in Ho Chi Minh City on March 10.

Le Quang Liem (Photo: VNA)

His teammates stumbled in other matches, with Tu Hoang Thong and Dao Thien Hai losing to Liu Xiangyi and Tin Jingyao of Singapore; and Nguyen Sy Hung losing to Yap Kim Steven of the Philippines.

The 9-round tournament, set to wrap up on March 16, will offer 35,000 USD in prizes. The top winner will earn 12,000 USD.

Winners of previous editions, Le Quang Liem (3^rd edition) and Ni Hua of China (2^nd edition), are seeded one and two in a field of 80 players from 16 countries and territories including China, India, the Philippines and Russia.

(Source: VNA)