faith, hope, and love: The 2nd HDBank Open

I can't say much about this tournament which held in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam other than my appearance was less maximum. Scoring only 4,5/9 and dropping 9 elo pts. Well, it happens. Sometimes you can play well, sometimes you play bad. Even so, many things can be learned from the games there which I hope can deepen my understanding in chess

After competing for 6 days (March 2nd-7th), GM Ni Hua from China (2637) finished in sole first place himself with 8 points with only spoiled in 2 draws. Followed by the first seeded from Vietnam GM Le Quang Liem (2698) and his compatriot GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son (2662) as the runner-up and third placer.

Final Ranking after 9 Rounds

Rk.		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	n	w	we	w-we	K	rtg+/-
1	GM	Ni Hua	CHN	2637	8.0	38.0	0.0	42.50	9	8	6.43	1.57	0	0.0
2	GM	Le Quang Liem	VIE	2698	7.5	37.0	0.0	40.50	9	7.5	7.01	0.49	0	0.0
3	GM	Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son	VIE	2662	6.5	37.0	0.0	33.25	9	6.5	7.14	-0.64	0	0.0
4		Wan Yunguo	CHN	2441	6.5	36.5	0.0	32.25	9	6.5	5.60	0.90	0	0.0
5	IM	Nguyen Van Huy	VIE	2485	6.5	35.5	0.0	32.00	9	6.5	5.55	0.95	0	0.0
6	GM	Xiu Deshun	CHN	2492	6.5	35.0	0.0	31.00	9	6.5	5.49	1.01	0	0.0
7	GM	Tu Hoang Thong	VIE	2416	6.5	32.5	0.0	28.75	9	6.5	5.83	0.67	0	0.0
8	IM	Gao Rui	CHN	2417	6.0	38.5	0.0	31.00	9	6	4.96	1.04	0	0.0
9	IM	Le Quang Long	VIE	2336	6.0	38.0	0.0	30.00	9	6	3.50	2.50	0	0.0
10	WGM	Pham Le Thao Nguyen	VIE	2351	6.0	36.0	0.0	27.25	9	6	4.30	1.70	0	0.0
11	IM	Nguyen Duc Hoa	VIE	2453	6.0	34.0	0.0	27.75	9	6	5.48	0.52	0	0.0
12	GM	Barbosa Oliver	PHI	2585	6.0	32.0	0.0	26.50	8	5	5.82	-0.82	0	0.0
13	CM	Nguyen Hoang Nam	VIE	2361	6.0	31.0	0.0	25.00	9	6	5.20	0.80	0	0.0
14	GM	Bui Vinh	VIE	2463	6.0	30.0	0.0	25.25	9	6	7.41	-1.41	0	0.0
15	GM	Cao Sang	VIE	2526	5.5	41.5	0.0	30.00	9	5.5	5.75	-0.25	0	0.0
16	GM	Paragua Mark	PHI	2519	5.5	40.5	0.0	30.00	9	5.5	5.27	0.23	0	0.0
17	GM	Li Shilong	CHN	2549	5.5	38.5	0.0	28.75	9	5.5	5.34	0.16	0	0.0
18	FM	Bersamina Paulo	PHI	2154	5.5	37.0	0.0	27.75	8	5	2.62	2.38	0	0.0
19	IM	Duong The Anh	VIE	2373	5.5	36.0	0.0	25.25	9	5.5	4.78	0.72	0	0.0
20	IM	Nolte Rolando	PHI	2456	5.5	35.5	0.0	24.50	8	4.5	4.85	-0.35	0	0.0
21	FM	Chan Yi Ren Daniel	SIN	2342	5.5	35.5	0.0	23.75	9	5.5	4.45	1.05	0	0.0
22	GM	Dao Thien Hai	VIE	2516	5.5	35.0	0.0	26.75	9	5.5	5.93	-0.43	0	0.0
23	IM	Dimakiling Oliver	PHI	2447	5.5	34.5	0.0	24.00	9	5.5	6.34	-0.84	0	0.0
24	GM	Torre Eugenio	PHI	2502	5.5	33.5	0.0	25.00	9	5.5	6.15	-0.65	0	0.0
25	GM	Gopal Geetha Narayanan	IND	2572	5.5	33.5	0.0	23.00	9	5.5	6.84	-1.34	0	0.0
26		Ma Zhonghan	CHN	2369	5.5	32.0	0.0	23.75	8	5	5.32	-0.32	0	0.0
27	IM	Senador Emmanuel	PHI	2357	5.5	32.0	0.0	22.00	8	4.5	4.88	-0.38	0	0.0
28	GM	Shanava Konstantine	GEO	2586	5.5	31.5	0.0	23.00	9	5.5	7.09	-1.59	0	0.0
29	WGM	Nguyen Thi Thanh An	VIE	2292	5.5	30.5	0.0	22.25	8	4.5	4.29	0.21	0	0.0
30	IM	Bao Khoa	VIE	2221	5.5	30.0	0.0	20.75	9	5.5	3.99	1.51	0	0.0
31		Nguyen Thien Viet	VIE	2265	5.0	40.5	0.0	26.50	9	5	2.63	2.37	0	0.0
32	GM	Gomez John Paul	PHI	2512	5.0	40.0	0.0	25.50	8	4	4.51	-0.51	0	0.0
33	IM	Tu Hoang Thai	VIE	2327	5.0	34.0	0.0	22.50	9	5	5.26	-0.26	0	0.0
34	IM	Garcia Jan Emmanuel	PHI	2405	5.0	33.0	0.0	21.00	8	4	4.80	-0.80	0	0.0
35	FM	Tran Tuan Minh	VIE	2249	5.0	31.0	0.0	20.00	9	5	4.44	0.56	0	0.0
36		Sean Winshand Cuhendi	INA	2036	5.0	30.0	0.0	19.75	9	5	2.04	2.96	0	0.0
37	FM	Pham Chuong	VIE	2398	5.0	29.0	0.0	19.50	9	5	6.65	-1.65	0	0.0
38	FM	Pham Duc Thang	VIE	2232	5.0	29.0	0.0	17.00	8	4	3.94	0.06	0	0.0
39	FM	Hoang Canh Huan	VIE	2396	4.5	38.5	0.0	22.25	9	4.5	4.55	-0.05	0	0.0
40	WGM	Gu Xiaobing	CHN	2257	4.5	36.5	0.0	21.50	9	4.5	3.80	0.70	0	0.0
41	IM	Diu Viacheslav	RUS	2486	4.5	36.0	0.0	20.50	9	4.5	5.91	-1.41	0	0.0
42		Vo Thanh Ninh	VIE	2340	4.5	35.5	0.0	20.00	9	4.5	5.28	-0.78	0	0.0
43	IM	Ly Moulthun	AUS	2402	4.5	35.0	0.0	19.75	9	4.5	5.06	-0.56	0	0.0
		Tran Quoc Dung	VIE	2296	4.5	35.0	0.0	19.75	8	3.5	2.91	0.59	0	0.0
45		Olay Edgar Reggie	PHI	2361	4.5	34.5	0.0	20.00	9	4.5	4.66	-0.16	0	0.0
46	WIM	Le Kieu Thien Kim	VIE	2230	4.5	34.0	0.0	19.00	9	4.5	3.58	0.92	0	0.0
47	FM	Nguyen Van Hai	VIE	2311	4.5	33.5	0.0	18.75	9	4.5	4.68	-0.18	0	0.0
48		Tong Thai Hung	VIE	2126	4.5	33.0	0.0	19.75	8	4	2.60	1.40	0	0.0
49	IM	Nguyen Huynh Minh Huy	VIE	2460	4.5	31.5	0.0	17.00	9	4.5	6.14	-1.64	0	0.0
50		Legaspi Rhobel	PHI	2273	4.5	30.5	0.0	16.25	9	4.5	4.90	-0.40	0	0.0
51	CM	Tran Thanh Tu	VIE	2300	4.5	30.0	0.0	14.50	7	2.5	3.49	-0.99	0	0.0
52		Tan Weiliang	SIN	2267	4.5	28.5	0.0	16.50	9	4.5	5.75	-1.25	0	0.0
53		Tran Ngoc Lan	VIE	2201	4.5	28.5	0.0	14.75	8	3.5	3.05	0.45	0	0.0
54		Xu Hanbing	CHN	2328	4.5	27.5	0.0	17.25	9	4.5	6.19	-1.69	0	0.0
55	WGM	Sukandar Irine Kharisma	INA	2349	4.5	27.0	0.0	15.25	7	3.5	4.07	-0.57	0	0.0
56	FM	Le Tuan Minh	VIE	2123	4.0	37.0	0.0	20.75	9	4	2.39	1.61	0	0.0
57		Yu Chaojie	CHN	0	4.0	35.0	0.0	18.00	8	3
58	IM	Yang Kaiqi	CHN	2360	4.0	33.5	0.0	18.00	8	4	4.82	-0.82	0	0.0
59		Tran Ngoc Thach	VIE	2212	4.0	33.5	0.0	17.00	9	4	4.11	-0.11	0	0.0
60		Eng Andre Jerome	SIN	2245	4.0	32.5	0.0	14.25	9	4	4.56	-0.56	0	0.0
61	WIM	Gong Qianyun	CHN	2302	4.0	31.0	0.0	16.50	8	3	4.69	-1.69	0	0.0
62		Nguyen Sy Hung	VIE	2043	4.0	30.5	0.0	13.00	7	2	2.41	-0.41	0	0.0
63		Tran Quang Khai	VIE	2025	4.0	29.0	0.0	14.25	8	3.5	2.27	1.23	0	0.0
64		Nguyen Huynh Tuan Hai	VIE	1790	4.0	28.0	0.0	14.25	9	4	1.30	2.70	0	0.0
65	IM	Ton That Nhu Tung	VIE	2177	4.0	27.5	0.0	12.25	9	4	4.97	-0.97	0	0.0
66		Aron Teh Eu Wen	MAS	1900	4.0	27.5	0.0	12.00	8	3	1.31	1.69	0	0.0
67	CM	Le Thanh Tai	VIE	1889	4.0	27.0	0.0	13.00	8	4	1.85	2.15	0	0.0
68	CM	Nguyen Van Toan Thanh	VIE	1940	4.0	26.5	0.0	11.25	9	4	2.33	1.67	0	0.0
69		Dong Zhaorui	CHN	0	4.0	25.5	0.0	14.25	8	3.5
70	WFM	Le Hoang Tran Chau	VIE	2093	3.5	32.5	0.0	12.75	9	3.5	3.30	0.20	0	0.0
71	IM	Vasilyev Mikhail	UKR	2270	3.5	32.0	0.0	11.75	8	3.5	3.76	-0.26	0	0.0
72		Pham Thi Thu Hien	VIE	2116	3.5	31.5	0.0	13.50	8	3	3.71	-0.71	0	0.0
73		Nguyen Minh Tuan	VIE	2126	3.5	31.5	0.0	12.50	9	3.5	2.37	1.13	0	0.0
74		Cox Tristan A	ENG	2096	3.5	31.0	0.0	13.00	9	3.5	3.37	0.13	0	0.0
75	WIM	Pham Bich Ngoc	VIE	2155	3.5	28.5	0.0	12.00	8	2.5	3.66	-1.16	0	0.0
76	WFM	Vu Thi Dieu Ai	VIE	1833	3.5	28.0	0.0	10.75	8	3	1.55	1.45	0	0.0
77	WFM	Ton Nu Hong An	VIE	1987	3.5	27.5	0.0	8.25	7	1.5	2.17	-0.67	0	0.0
78		Nguyen Hoang Anh	VIE	1924	3.5	23.0	0.0	8.50	8	2.5	2.28	0.22	0	0.0
79	WIM	Nguyen Thi Mai Hung	VIE	2259	3.0	34.0	0.0	15.75	9	3	4.60	-1.60	0	0.0
80	CM	Nguyen Tan Hoang Nam	VIE	1810	3.0	27.0	1.0	9.00	9	3	1.33	1.67	0	0.0
81	FM	Ikeda Junta	AUS	2373	3.0	27.0	0.0	8.50	8	2	5.82	-3.82	0	0.0
82		Do Thi Thuong	VIE	2091	3.0	26.5	0.0	8.50	9	3	4.98	-1.98	0	0.0
83		Nguyen Dang Hong Phuc	VIE	1765	3.0	25.5	0.0	7.75	8	2.5	1.33	1.17	0	0.0
84		Li Wenxiang	CHN	0	3.0	24.5	0.0	8.00	8	2
85		Doan Thi Van Anh	VIE	1992	3.0	24.0	0.0	6.00	8	2	3.39	-1.39	0	0.0
86		Vinod Gopal	IND	2044	3.0	22.5	0.0	5.25	6	1	1.78	-0.78	0	0.0
87		Wolfaardt Francois	RSA	1783	3.0	22.0	0.0	7.00	7	2	1.27	0.73	0	0.0
88		Aplin Christer Jon	SIN	2055	2.5	28.5	0.0	10.25	8	1.5	3.26	-1.76	0	0.0
89		Gao Hanxue	CHN	0	2.5	25.5	0.0	8.50	7	1
90		Kuich Gero	SUI	1855	2.5	21.0	0.0	5.75	7	1	1.98	-0.98	0	0.0
91		Chung Juen Sen	SIN	1993	2.5	20.5	0.0	4.00	7	0.5	3.49	-2.99	0	0.0
92		Frost Peter	AUS	1897	2.0	21.5	0.0	4.25	6	0.5	2.09	-1.59	0	0.0
93		Fu Jinghao	CHN	0	2.0	19.5	0.0	3.25	8	1