>> Quang Liem, Truong Son to represent Vietnam at Chess World Cup
Liem (Elo 2,697) was held to a surprising draw by Azerbaijan’s lower rated player Vasif Durarbayli (Elo 2,618) in the first game.
Despite intense pressure, Liem deployed active offense strategies in the second game, forcing Durarbayli to play in defence before surrendering after 43 moves.
Moving through the first round with a score of 1.5-0.5, Liem will play the second round against the winner of the clash between Nikita Vitiugov (Russia, Elo 2,725) and Samvel Ter- Sahakyan (Armenia, Elo 2,601), who are currently in a tie of 1-1 and will enter a decisive match today.
Son (Elo 2,634), meanwhile, also qualified for the second round with a win and one draw against Robert Kempinski of Poland (Elo 2.637) in the first round.
Son’s next challenger will be the winner of the match between Evgeny Tomashevsky (Russia, Elo 2,758) and Ziaur Rahman (Bangladesh, Elo 2,509), who will also compete in a tiebreaker today to decide who will advance.
The tournament is being played on a single-elimination format, with 128 players from around the world competing in eight divisions of 16. The winner of each division will automatically advance to the quarterfinals.
