Moulthun on Target For Norm

We're hoping that by tomorrow morning, Australia will have another international master to its arsenal of chess talents. Moulthun Ly, with 4.5 points going into the ninth and last round of the 5th Gibraltar Chess Festival, finds himself in a must-win situation against the 2459-rated Subbarama Vijayalakshmi in order to secure his third and final IM norm.

Moulthun has so far beaten two international masters, Thal Abergel of France and Nana Dzagnidze of Georgia. In the penultimate game, Mouthun drew against European Women's Champ and recent conqueror of Indian star Parimarjan Negi, the Ukrainian Kateryna Lahno.



GM Ian Rogers and IM David Smerdon are also on 4.5 points. The grandmaster should win against Zoltan Revesz, while David may find chess writer IM Robert Bellin a difficult date. The last Aussie, Malcolm Tredinnick, has 3 points for his efforts.

Good luck to all the boys!