Liêm competes against masters at Gibraltar International Chess Festival

Lê Quang Liêm seen competing at last year’s Gibraltar International Chess Festival. — Photo baomoi.com

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese Grandmaster Lê Quang Liêm will face the world’s strongest chess players at the Gibraltar International Chess Festival  二0 一 九 in the UK.

Liêm is the ninth seed and is one of  一 四 Grandmasters at the tournament who have an Elo rating of  二, 七00 or higher.

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France is the top candidate for the title. Other favourites are Levon Aronian of Armenia, Wesley So of the US and Yu Yangyi of China.

Liêm’s first round rival is International Master Tarvo Seeman of Estonia.

The Gibraltar event, from January  二 一- 三 一, has five different categories in Masters, Challengers and Amateurs.

Prizes are given to top  一 五 players. The winner of the Masters pool will pocket  二 五,000 pounds (US$ 三 二,000). — VNS