HCM City (VNA) - As many as 232 chess masters from all the five continents willcompete in the 7th HD Bank International Open Chess Tournament,which opened in Ho Chi Minh City on March 12.
Host Vietnam include World Grand Master Le Quang Liem and outstanding mastersDao Thien Hai, Tran Tuan Minh, Nguyen Anh Khoi, Pham Le Thao Nguyen, Vo Thi KimPhung, and Nguyen Thi Mai Hung.
They willcompete with players from Russia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, China, Germany, India,Switzerland, Indonesia, the Philippines and America.
Theaverage Elo rating of the tournament is 2,383, which is believed a high-levelcompetition.
NguyenPhuoc Trung, General Secretary of the Vietnam Chess Federation, said strongcompetitors in the tournament are Chinese seed No. 1 Wei Yi (Elo rating 2,725) andNo. 3 Bu Xiangzhi (2,711); and Vietnamese Le Quang Liem, 2,712.
Thetournament, which will last until March 17, has prizes worth a total of 45,000 USD, with thefirst prize winner receiving 13,000 USD.-VNA