Liêm to compete at online Steinitz Memorial contest

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese Grandmaster Lê Quang Liêm will participate at the International Chess Federation (FIDE) Online Steinitz Memorial tournament on May  一 五- 一 七.

The  二0 一 三 world blitz champion Liêm will compete alongside world champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway, three-time world blitz champion Alexander Grischuk of Russia, Peter Svidler of Russia and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan in the Open section, together with five more players who are yet to be determined.

 二0 一 八 and  二0 一 九 women’s world blitz champion Kateryna Lagno of Russia heads the women’s line-up, with former women’s world champions Alexandra Kosteniuk of Russia, Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria and Tan Zhongyi of China, and  二0 一 八 world blitz silver medalist Sarasadat Khademalsharieh of Iran all in action.

The event consists of two  一0-player tournaments, one open and one for women. Each player will play each other twice over  一 八 rounds of blitz matches, where the players have three minutes for all moves and a two-second increment after every move. All games are to be played on chess 二 四.com and will be broadcast live with co妹妹entary in multiple languages.

The event has the total prize fund of US$ 三 二, 六00.

The event is in memory of the first official World Chess Champion, Wilhelm Steinitz who was born on May  一 七,  一 八 三 六, and became the first undisputed World Chess Champion in  一 八 八 六 when he beat Johannes Zukertort of England.

Steinitz defended his world title three times against Mikhail Chigorin ( 一 八 八 九,  一 九 九 二) and Isidor Gunsberg ( 一 八 九 一) before losing it to Emanuel Lasker (Germany) in  一 八 九 四. — VNS