Vietnam No. 1 Le Quang Liem set the target to achieve the highest place in the 7th HDBank Cup International Open Chess Tournament 2017 on March 12th at First Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City.

Just before entering the first round, No. 1 Vietnam chess player Le Quang Liem said: "Last year I was quite busy due to my university's final year in the United States, but every day I spent a certain time to practice chess. Teammates in Webster University's chess team are strong players, and practicing with them helps me maintain my manners. So I set the goal to win the highest achievement in this tournament.

Le Quang Liem said the most formidable opponent in the tournament was none other than No. 1 seed Wei Yi (China, elo 2,725). "Wei Yi is a young but progressive player. I think he will be the candidate for world chess champion in the near future. I once had a draw with him. "Quang Liem said. Except Wei Yi, Quang Liêm said the remaining players are very strong but he was not bothered by: "want to win the championship you have to overcome all the barriers."

No. 1 Vietnam also did not look forward to any luck and support from his team-mates when answer the question whether if Vietnam's No. 2 Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son retreated at the last minute will have no supporter Quang Liem. . "Chess in high level, as personal as HDBank tournament, you can only rely on your ability, not the help. I feel sorry to Truong Son when he was sick, lost the opportunity to compete with strong opponents. However, the absence of Truong Son teammates does not affect my chance. I will try my best in every game to get the best results, "Quang Liem said.

The challenge of Quang Liem (elo 2.712) in the opening game is Indonesia player Andyka Pitra (elo 2.390) while Tu Hoang Thong will test his ability against seed No. 1 Wei Yi. According to the latest results, Quang Liem overtook Andyka Pitra in 31 moves. Wei Yi also won Tu Hoang Thong on the first game.

In the woman group, No. 1 player Pham Le Thao Nguyen (elo 2,351) succesfully made a draw with No. 8 seed Lu Shanglei (China, elo 2,624). Female chess player Nguyen Thi Mai Hung shared a point with the 10th seed Zhou Jianchao (China). Female player Hoang Thi Bao Tram also had a draw with 12th seed Rozum Ivan (Russia).