This undated file photo shows Le Quang Liem in a tournament

Vietnamese teenager Le Quang Liem this week became the first Asian chess player to win Moscow Aeroflot, the toughest open tournament in the world.

On the way to the title, the 18-year-old beat France’s Bacrot and China’s leading player Bu Xiangzhi.

The victory and a third place in the earlier Moscow Open brought him US$30,000 in awards and will put him into the FIDE top 50 in March.

Liem, who was the under-14 world champion four years ago, got additional 42 points from the Aeroflot and Moscow open tournaments, putting his Elo rating to 2,689 and him into the top 50 list.

After the victory, the teenager told Thanh Nien newspaper that he would stay in Russia one month to consult Russian coach Kalifman, a former FIDE champion. He added he was targeting the world top 20 list in the future.