GM Wesley So and GM Zhang Zhong top rated at the Zonal 3,3

22-30 July, Vietnam

GM Wesley So and GM Zhang Zhong are the top rated players at the staring Zone 3.3 chess championship in Vietnam. They are the only players over 2600 ELO, however, their task will not be an easy one. Their closes rivals will be youth and experience - GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, the young talent from Vietnam, and GM Eugenio Torre, the first Asia grandmaster.

Six more GMs participate in the Zonal 3.3, among them Dao Thien Hai, Susanto Megaranto, Bui Vinh, Darwin Laylo, Mark Paragua, and Nguyen Anh Dung.

Surprises in such events always come from the norm seeking players. This time 7 IMs and 12 FMs will be seeking higher titles and will surely try to stun the favorites from round 1.

The stakes at this year's Zonal 3.3 are high. It is a qualification for the Chess World Cup in Khanty Mansiysk, as the first two players qualify for the event and get a chance to compete for a place in the World Championship finals 2010 - 2011.

A total of nine rounds will be played, the time control is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an addition of 30 seconds per move starting from move one. In case of a tie in the standings two rapid tiebreak games will be played with time control 25 minutes plus 10 seconds. In case of another tie two blitz games will follow with 5 minutes plus 10 seconds. Incase of yet another tie, an armageddon game will be played.

1 GM So Wesley PHI 2646
2 GM Zhang Zhong SIN 2613
3 GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son VIE 2592
4 GM Torre Eugenio PHI 2560
5 GM Dao Thien Hai VIE 2552
6 GM Megaranto Susanto INA 2534
7 GM Bui Vinh VIE 2517
8 IM Nguyen Huynh Minh Huy VIE 2500
9 IM Bitoon Richard PHI 2495
10 GM Laylo Darwin PHI 2494
11 GM Paragua Mark PHI 2487
12 GM Nguyen Anh Dung VIE 2474
13 IM Nolte Rolando PHI 2458
14 IM Nguyen Thanh Son VIE 2444
15 IM Duong The Anh VIE 2440
16 CM Nguyen Van Huy VIE 2414
17 IM Tu Hoang Thai VIE 2405
18 IM Mas Hafizulhelmi MAS 2391
19 FM Batchuluun Tsegmed MGL 2384
20 FM Pham Chuong VIE 2364
21 FM Chan Yi-Ren Daniel SIN 2358
22 FM Chan Wei-Xuan Timothy SIN 2344
23 Vo Thanh Ninh VIE 2340
24 FM Watanabe Akira JPN 2339
25 FM Nguyen Duc Hoa VIE 2331
26 FM Kojima Shinya JPN 2323
27 CM Nguyen Hoang Nam VIE 2320
28 FM Ly Hong Nguyen VIE 2302
29 Le Quang Long VIE 2279
30 CM Tran Thanh Tu VIE 2258
31 Srivachirawat Kannapon THA 2256
32 CM Nguyen Van Hai VIE 2249
33 Baba Masahiro JPN 2229
34 FM Ton That Nhu Tung VIE 2227
35 FM Chua Zheng Yuan Terry SIN 2226
36 Tran Quoc Dung VIE 2196
37 Tran Ngoc Lan VIE 2176
38 CM Nguyen Van Thanh VIE 2173
39 Bao Khoa VIE 2161
40 Nguyen Manh Truong VIE 2160
41 FM Lo Kin Mun Dominic SIN 2154
42 Dang The Nam VIE 2124
43 Dong Bao Nghia VIE 2109
44 Nguyen Huu Hoang Anh VIE 2086
45 Dang Duy Linh VIE 2084
46 Nguyen Hung Cuong VIE 2035
47 Nguyen Sy Hung VIE 2013
48 Wiwatanadate Poompong THA 1979
49 FM Vuong Trung Hieu VIE 1964
50 Le Minh Hoang VIE 1941
51 CM Le Huu Thai VIE 1873
52 Nguyen Van Toan Thanh VIE 1813
53 Do Hoang Lam VIE

More info at the official site