Two International Grand Masters (IGM) Le Quang Liem and Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son will compete in the Cap D’Agde Rapid Chess tournament in France from October 23-31.

Fast mover: International Grand Master Le Quang Liem during a match at the Asian Indoor Games in Viet Nam last year. Liem and his teammate Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son will compete at the Cap D’Agde Rapid Chess tournament in France from October 23-31.

The two top Vietnamese grand masters will test their skills against formidable opponents, including Russian giant Anatoly Karpov, Vasily Ivanchuk from Ukraine, Bu Xiangzhi from China and Judith Polgar from Hungary.

Liem and Son will use the event as a warm up for the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China next month.

Liem, 19, has been in top form since finishing second at the Sparkassen Chess Meeting that was held in Dortmund, Germany in July.

He also won the Moscow Open in February.

Last year, the HCM City-born player broke into the world’s top 20 FIDE rankings, and was the only Vietnamese player to make the list of leading male chess masters.

However, Son and Liem performed poorly at the Chess Olympiad last month.

Son, who became a Grand Master in March 1997 when he was 14 years old, will face China’s Bu Xiangzhi, an arch rival, in the Cap D’Agde tourney.

The match will be held next Friday.

After the tournament, the two top players will have a 10-day break before flying to Guangzhou for the Asian Games.