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The strong open which sported 29 GMs among the 111 titled players, saw competitors from all over the globe, hailing from as far off as Argentina and Jamaica, coming to enjoy some chess in Vietnam. Even the Vietnamese star, Le Quang Liem, came all the way from St. Louis, where he has been studying at Webster University under Susan Polgar’s scholarship program since 2013.
Although he had won the event in 2013 and 2015, there was nothing assured of a win this year in the company of other Chinese heavy hitters such as Wei Yi, Bu Xiangzhi, and Wang Hao, not to mention Bulgarian GM Cheparinov who is always hovering around the 2700 mark.
15 year old IM Nguyen Anh Khoi had an excellent tournament, and scored a GM norm
Sandro Mareco vs Li Ruofan
(full solutions at end)
Wei Yi seemed to arrive in truly inspired form, not just winning his games but winning them in spectacular style as often as not. In fact, the Chinese prodigy might easily have been the name of the event were it not for a quite uncharacteristic slip in round two, when he really self-destructed at the board against Russian IM Viacheslav Diu, over 300 Elo his junior. After the game, taking full responsibility for it, he was heard saying he was furious with himself. This sort of comment can lead to good or bad things, depending on the player. In Wei Yi’s case, it meant a furious comeback with 5.0/6 in the next six rounds. This included the sparkling 21-move in in round seven, not to be missed!
Wei Yi vs Xu Yinglun
When round eight arrived, the leaderboard was quite packed, and the fate of the tournament could hardly be less clear. Five players stood at 6.0/8: Wang Haop, Bu Xiangzhi, Le Quang Liem, Wei YI, and the event’s surprise, Stanislav Bogdanovich (2602), from Ukraine.
Top seeds Le Quang Liem and Wi Yi drew in round eight
Le Quang Liem vs Vo Thanh Ninh
Vishnu Prasanna vs Chu Wei Chao
If Wei Yi had suffered an early slip, Bogdanovich suffered what could only be described as a fall down a full flight of stairs, losing to Nouri Hamed (2344) and Kyaw Lin Naing (2289) in the very first two rounds. Many a player has all but given up on an event, not to say withdrawn outright after such a disastrous start, but not Bogdanovich! He then went on a tear of six straight wins, to actually place him in contention of gold! However, he faced Le Quang Liem, easily his strongest opponent thus far.
The Vietnamese player played a superb game, and pulled off the win, however this only guaranteed a share of the podium at best, as three others were still in the running. Both Chinese players Wei Yi and Bu Xiangzhi faced each other, and of ever there were an example of fair-play, this was it. Either player could have snatched gold with a superior tiebreak, by winning over each other. The only result that was never going to give anything certain was a draw, yet that was the result of their game.
Bu Xiangzhi vs Tran Tuan Minh
As it turned out, there were no other decisive results among the leaders, leaving sole first for Le Quang Liem with 7.0/9 while Bu Xiangzhi took 2nd place with 6.5/9, followed by Wang Hao in 3rd and Wei Yi in 4th.
Commenting on the tournament, the new champion Le Quang Liem said that this is really a tough challenge when the players have to compete with a schedule in which three days saw double-rounds. He did however add that the success at the 2017 HDBank Cup would motivate him to seek out further successes and give him confidence looking ahead at the World Cup in early September and the SportAccord World Mind Games.
The winners (from left): Wang Hao in third, Dinara Saduakassova (Best Female), Le Quang Liem in first, and Bu Xiangzhi in second
Final standings after nine rounds
| Rk | SNo | Ti. | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts | TB | rtg+/- |
| 1 | 2 | GM | Le Quang Liem | VIE | 2712 | 7,0 | 51,0 | 8,8 |
| 2 | 3 | GM | Bu Xiangzhi | CHN | 2711 | 6,5 | 52,5 | 2,2 |
| 3 | 5 | GM | Wang Hao | CHN | 2683 | 6,5 | 52,0 | 6,5 |
| 4 | 1 | GM | Wei Yi | CHN | 2725 | 6,5 | 51,0 | -2,0 |
| 19 | IM | Tran Tuan Minh | VIE | 2503 | 6,5 | 51,0 | 22,9 | |
| 6 | 12 | GM | Rozum Ivan | RUS | 2600 | 6,5 | 48,5 | 2,8 |
| 7 | 17 | GM | Vishnu Prasanna. V | IND | 2534 | 6,5 | 44,0 | 9,4 |
| 8 | 7 | GM | Mareco Sandro | ARG | 2664 | 6,5 | 42,5 | -9,0 |
| 9 | 6 | GM | Iturrizaga Bonelli Eduardo | VEN | 2673 | 6,0 | 49,0 | -8,8 |
| 10 | 26 | IM | Le Tuan Minh | VIE | 2475 | 6,0 | 48,5 | 22,3 |
| 11 | 4 | GM | Cheparinov Ivan | BUL | 2698 | 6,0 | 47,0 | -10,2 |
| 12 | 15 | Xu Yinglun | CHN | 2540 | 6,0 | 45,0 | 3,4 | |
| 13 | 10 | GM | Zhou Jianchao | CHN | 2619 | 6,0 | 44,0 | -7,9 |
| 14 | 16 | GM | Shyam Sundar M. | IND | 2536 | 6,0 | 41,5 | -0,7 |
| 15 | 11 | GM | Bogdanovich Stanislav | UKR | 2602 | 6,0 | 39,0 | -5,8 |
| 16 | 28 | IM | Nguyen Anh Khoi | VIE | 2459 | 5,5 | 50,0 | 16,2 |
| 17 | 34 | IM | Shyaamnikhil P | IND | 2440 | 5,5 | 47,5 | 13,8 |
| 18 | 8 | GM | Lu Shanglei | CHN | 2624 | 5,5 | 46,5 | -13,4 |
| 19 | 36 | WGM | Saduakassova Dinara | KAZ | 2428 | 5,5 | 46,0 | 13,6 |
| 20 | 21 | GM | Gomez John Paul | PHI | 2481 | 5,5 | 46,0 | 5,1 |
Solutions:
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