VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnamese Grandmaster Le Quang Liem will face the world’s strongest chess players at the Gibraltar International Chess Festival 2019 in the UK.

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

Liem is the ninth seed and is one of 14 Grandmasters at the tournament who have an Elo rating of 2,700 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.

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

The Gibraltar event, from January 21-31, has five different categories in Masters, Challengers and Amateurs.

Prizes are given to top 15 players. The winner of the Masters pool will pocket 25,000 pounds (US$32,000).

Source: VNS