Barbosa ties for 8th in tough Vietnam chess

Final Standings

8.0 pts — GM Ni Hua (China)

7.5 pts — GM Le Quang Liem (Vietnam)

6.5 pts — GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son (Vietnam), Wan Yunguo (China), IM Nguyen Van Huy (Vietnam), GM Xie Deshun (China), GM Tu Hoang Thong (Vietnam)

6.0 pts — IM Gao Rui (China), IM Le Quang Long (Vietnam), WGM Pham Le Thao Nguyen (Vietnam), IM Nguyen Doc Hoa (Vietnam), GM Oliver Barbosa (Philippines), CM Nguyen Hoang Nam (Vietnam), GM Bui Vinh (Vietnam)

Grandmaster (GM) Oliver Barbosa finished in a tie for eighth place at Wednesday’s conclusion of the 2nd HD Bank Cup International Open Chess Tournament 2012 at the HD Bank head office in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Barbosa defeated compatriot GM John Paul Gomez in the 9th and final round using the disadvantageous black pieces to raise his total to 6.0 points on five wins, two loses and two draws.

Also with 6.0 points are GM Bui Vinh, WGM Pham Le Thao Nguyen, IM Le Quang Long, IM Nguyen Doc Hoa and CM Nguyen Hoang Nam of Vietnam and IM Gao Rui of China.

GM Ni Hua of China drew with GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son of Vietnam in the final round to tally 8.0 points and bag the title worth $10,000 top purse. He is half a point ahead of solo second placer GM Le Quang Liem of Vietnam who beat countryman GM Cao Sang in the 9th round.

Truong Son, meanwhile, finished tied for 3rd to 7th with GM Xie Deshun and Wan Yunguo of China, IM Nguyen Van Huy and GM Tu Hoang Thong of Vietnam, who beat another Filipino entry GM Mark Paragua in the final round.

Paragua was stuck at 5.5 points and dropped into a share of 15th to 30th spots in the company of GM Eugene Torre and IM Rolando Nolte, IM Emmanuel Senador, IM Oliver Dimakiling and FM Paulo Bersamina.

Gomez has 5.0 points, the same output of IM Jan Emmanuel Garcia. /Correspondent Marlon Bernardino