International Grandmaster Le Quang Liem took the sole lead at the Russian
International Chess Festival (Aeroflot Open) after seventh round play yesterday,
Feb 15,
in Moscow.

Making his move: Vietnamese chess player Le Quang Liem competes at the Aeroflot Open International Chess tournament. (Photo: VNS)

Liem has scored six
points after seven matches and has remained in the top position in the
tournament since the third round on Friday.

The defending
champion, Liem, defeated Russian Mikhail Kobalia, 32, who was European Youth
Chess Champion in 1994. The victory made Liem the only competitor here not to
suffer a loss in the tournament, which follows the Swiss system’s nine-round
format.

His two draws were
against Evgeny Tomashevsky of Russia and Rustam Kasimdzhanov of Uzbekistan.
Tomashevsky triumphed at the 10th European Championships in 2009 while
Kasimdzhanov shocked the chess world by winning the FIDE world chess
championship title, beating a string of world-class players.

In their previous
match, Liem drew with Kasimdzhanov and lost his Asian Games title to the Uzbek
last December.

The HCM City-born Liem
will next meet Ivan Cheparinov of Bulgaria who has earned five points and is
among seven players on five points, very close to Liem in the ranking table.

The winner of the
tournament will bring home 20,000 euros (US$29,300) and get the chance to
participate in a round-robin super tournament in Dortmund, Germany, in late
July. The final match is this Friday.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News