Viet Nam hold England to 2-2 draw

International Grandmaster Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son helped the Vietnamese men's team to hold England to a 2-2 draw in the fifth round of the Chess Olympiad in Tromso, Norway, yesterday.

England are seeded No 10 in this event with an average Elo rating of 2680, while Viet Nam has an average Elo of 2588 and are seeded No 31.


Although Viet Nam's key player Le Quang Liem (Elo 2710) lost to Michael Adam (Elo 2740) on the first board after 44 moves, Son (Elo 2634) beat Jones Gawain (Elo 2665) on board 2 after 57 moves.

On the third and fourth board, Nguyen Duc Hoa (Elo 2501) and Nguyen Huynh Minh Huy (Elo 2507) tied with Howell David (Elo 2650) and Sadler Matthew (Elo 2653) respectively.

With this draw and having eight points, Viet Nam moved up one slot to 12th place out of 150 teams. In the next round, the team will meet strong rival Hungary (seeded No 5).

The Vietnamese women's team (Elo 2309) drew with Mongolia (Elo 2251) 2-2 to rank 23rd out of 136 teams. They play Belgium in the sixth round.