Nguyen Duc Hoa enjoys a successful tournament in the Philippines.

Duc Hoa (Elo 2,499) claimed seven points after nine matches, just one point behind the top seed, Nigel D Short (Elo 2,698) from the United Kingdom, who was crowned champion following seven wins and two draws.

The Philippines competition could be considered a successful tournament for the Can Tho-born player as he constantly maintained his place in the top five performers throughout the nine rounds of play. This result helps to add 4.9 elo points to Hoa’s FIDE world rating following the tournament.

Armenia’s Karen H. Grigoryan (Elo 2,586) finished as runner-up with seven points.

Hanoi’s famous chess masters, Tran Tuan Minh and Tran Minh Thang, failed to make the top five overall finishers. Tuan Minh, seeded third with an elo rating of 2.558, suffered three surprising defeats against lower-ranked opponents, claiming 12^th place on aggregate with 5.5 points and being deducted 19.9 elo points in his world rating.

Meanwhile, Minh Thang (Elo 2,352) recorded a last-round win over J. Pimentel of the Philippines, thus finishing in sixth position with six points and gaining an additional 8.5 elo points.

Following the tournament, Tran Minh Thang, 17, will return to Vietnam to prepare for the World Youth U14, U16, U18 Rapid & Blitz Chess Championships in Greece from October 27 to 31.

At the World Youth U14, U16, U18 Championships 2016, held in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, Tran Minh Thang was the only Vietnamese medalist, taking a bronze medal in the boys’ U16 category with eight points after 11 rounds of play.