Vietnamese top chess player Le Quang Liem will compete in the prestigious Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival which takes place in England on January 21-31.

More big names have joined this event such as Ukrainian Grandmaster Vassily Ivanchuk who is currently ranked No 11 in the world; Gata Kamsky of the US who has an Elo (the measurement used to compare players' abilities) rating of 2755; Radoslaw Wojtaszek of Poland, Elo 2733; Mickey Adams of England, Elo 2720); and Alexei Shirov of Lativa, Elo 2718.

The two-time Aeroflot Open champion Liem has an ELo rating of 2705, meaning spectators can expect a closely-fought contest between these master tacticians.

The event will help Liem prepare for other major international chess tournaments as he aims to make his mark on 2013.-VNS