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>> Chess players ready for Russia Olympiad

Grandmaster Le Quang Liem of Vietnam has prolonged his unbeaten record after six rounds and is taking the lead with five points at the international elite chess tournament Aeroflot Open 2011 held in Russia from February 7-18.

Le Quang Liem

The defending champion Liem, 20 with Elo rating of 2,664, had two ties with GMs Rustam Kasimdzhanov of Uzbekistan and Russian Evgeny Tomashevsky in the last two rounds on Saturday and Sunday.

He had gained complete victories in the four opening rounds, against GMs Gata Kamsky of the US, Luka Lenic of Slovenia, Andrey Zhigalko of Belarus, and Deshun Xiu of China.

In the seventh round today, Liem is set to encounter Russian grandmaster Mikhail Kobalia, who scores 4.5 points after six rounds.

The this year’s tournament is open to chess players of most varied qualification, from unrated to having a very high rating and separated in A, B, and C categories.

It has the prize fund amounting to EUR160,000 (USD217,000).