Culture - Sports

Vietnamese master defends crown

Le Quang Liem is on track to defend his title at the Russian International Chess Festival Aeroflot Open in Moscow.
Le Quang Liem is on track to defend his title at the Russian International Chess Festival Aeroflot Open in Moscow.

Liem won his first round match over Andrey Zhigalko of Bulgaria onFeb. 8 and will meet Chinese Xiu Deshun who beat Romain Edouard ofFrance next round.

Liem's strongest rivals include sixinternational super grandmasters and eight international grandmasters,including Gata Kamsky of the US , Sergei Movsesian of Armnia, DmitryJakovenko of Russia and Maxime Vachier Lagrave of France .

Competitors range from unrated to highly rated taking part in threeopen tournaments, each of which is a nine-round Swiss event.

Liem is among 130 candidates in tournament A, the highest level,competing for a bonus of 20,000 euros (29,300 USD) for the title winnerwho also will be entitled to participate in a round-robin SuperTournament in Dortmund in the second half of July.

There will also be prizes for the best performance among seniors, womenand juniors in all tournaments and a prize for the best result by anunrated player in tournament C.

The festival will conclude on February 17.

Liem has recently announced that he will be competing for three foreign teams this year.

Liem is the world No 79 will represent Germany 's Bremen at theGerman Clubs Cup, Evry Grand Roque at the French Chess League Top 16 andChinese Qingdao Yucai at China 's Chess League Division A in March,April and June, respectively.

The HCM City-born master is first ever Vietnamese chess master to play for foreign clubs.

Liem will later take part in the World Chess Championships in KhantyMansiysk in Russia from August 20 to September 15 and the 26thSoutheast Asian Games in Indonesia in November.

Liem whose ELO rating of 2,664 is aiming to break into the top 40 with an ELO rating of over 2,700 in 2011./.
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