Grandmaster Lê Quang Liêm (pictured) is one of two Vietnamese players at the  FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament in the Isle of Man, England. — Photo baodongnai.com.vn

HÀ NỘI — Grandmasters Lê Quang Liêm and Nguyễn Ngọc Trường Sơn are competing at the FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament in the Isle of Man, England.

Liêm, world No 35, and No 131 Sơn  will play 118 other players including powerhouses such as No 1 Magnus Carlsen, No 2 Fabiano Caruana, No 8 Wesley So and No 8 Viswanathan Anand at the US$433,000 event.

Liêm is placed No 19 while Sơn is ranked No 76 at the competition.

With the participation of the world champion Carlsen as well as players in the world top 10 as the top seeds, the event is the strongest Swiss tournament in history.

In the first round, Liêm plays GM Jorden van Foreest of the Netherlands while Sơn faces Allen Keith of Ireland.

The tournament runs for 11 rounds until October 22 with the winner taking a slot at the 2020 Candidates' Tournament. The winner of the Candidates' Tournament will earn the right to challenge reigning champion Carlsen in a match for the world championship in November 2020. — VNS