Vietnamese Grandmaster Lê Quang Liêm. — Photo zingnews.vn

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese Grandmaster Lê Quang Liêm will participate at the International Chess Federation (FIDE) Online Steinitz Memorial tournament on May 15-17.

The 2013 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.

2018 and 2019 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 2018 world blitz silver medalist Sarasadat Khademalsharieh of Iran all in action.

The event consists of two 10-player tournaments, one open and one for women. Each player will play each other twice over 18 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 chess24.com and will be broadcast live with commentary in multiple languages.

The event has the total prize fund of US$32,600.

The event is in memory of the first official World Chess Champion, Wilhelm Steinitz who was born on May 17, 1836, and became the first undisputed World Chess Champion in 1886 when he beat Johannes Zukertort of England.

Steinitz defended his world title three times against Mikhail Chigorin (1889, 1992) and Isidor Gunsberg (1891) before losing it to Emanuel Lasker (Germany) in 1894. — VNS