Vietnamese Grandmasters (GM) Le Quang Liem and Nguyen Ngoc Truong Sonretained their top positions at the Zone 3.3 qualifying round of theWorld Chess Championships 2015 in Ho Chi Minh City on March 12.

Both No 1 seeded Liem and No 2 seeded Son amassed five points after six rounds, taking the lead in a group of 44 players.

In the sixth round on March 12, two-time Aeroflot Open champion Liem tied his teammate Son.

InternationalMaster (IM) Wynn Zaw Htun of Myanmar maintained third place with 4.5points after drawing with GM Zhang Zhong of Singapore.

There aretwo more Vietnamese players in the group’s top 10, FIDE Master Le TuanMinh in fifth with four points, and GM Nguyen Anh Dung, ranking ninthwith four points.

In the new round on March 13, the HCMcity-native player Liem meets GM Gomez John Paul of the Philippines,Htun faces Son, Minh plays Filipino Barbosa Oliver and Dung battlesSingapore’s Zhong.

Among the women’s top 10, seven spots were occupied by Vietnamese players.

IMPham Le Thao Nguyen maintained her leading place with five points afterdrawing against her teammate Pham Thi Thu Hien in the sixth round.

Secondplace went to Vietnamese Luong Phuong Hanh with five points and thirdplace to No1 seeded Munguntuul Batkhuyag of Mongolia with four points.

The nine-day event will conclude on March 16.-VNA