Ho Chi Minh City, March 15 (IANS): Vietnamese top seed Le Quang Liem defeated Laylo Darwin of the Philippines in the zone 3.3 qualifying round of the World Chess Championships 2015 here to secure a berth in the Chess World Cup 2015.

Vietnamese top national player Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son was held to a draw by his Singaporean rival Zhang Zhong. On Sunday, Son must win at the ninth round to earn the second berth at the Chess World Cup, which is slated for Baku, Azerbaijan on September 10, Xinhua reported.

In the women's event, Vietnam's IM Pham Le Thao Nguyen took the lead with 6.5 points after eight rounds, while Munguntuul Batkhuyag of Mongolia retained second place with 6 points.

The zone 3.3 qualifying round of the World Chess Championships 2015 is held here from March 7 to 15, with participation of 44 male and 20 female players from seven countries.

Players will compete in nine sets upon Swiss system, of whom two male winners and one female winner will enter the finals of the world championships.