Vietnamese player Grandmaster Le Quang Liem

The strongest and best-organised event of its kind in the world will attract the participation ofnearly 500 players from more than 50 countries in various categories (masters,challengers and amateurs).

The Ho Chi Minh City-bornplayer will compete in the masters category.

Among the stars coming to theevent are joint top seeds Maxine Vachier-Lagrave of France, ShakhriyarMamedyarov of Azebaijan, Wang Hao of China, Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov ofBulgaria as well as legends like British Michael Adams and UkrainianVassily Ivanchuk. 

The 10-round Swiss event willoffer a top prize of 30,000 pounds (39,000 USD) for the winner of the mastersdivision.

The event has been voted thebest open tournament for a number of years, being held at the idyllic locationof the Caleta Hotel overlooking the Mediterranean Sea until January 31./.VNA