The 11 th Asian Chess Championship is taking place from May 4-14 in Ho Chi Minh City with 80 male and 40 female players from various countries and territories such as China , Indonesia , the Philippines , India , Mongolia , Iran , Nepal , Mongolia and Vietnam.

The tournament shall be conducted according to the Swiss System of 9 or 11 rounds, depending on the number of players.

As the host country, Vietnam is sending 40 players to the championship, including several top Vietnam and world players such as Le Quang Liem, Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, Hoang Bao Tram and Pham Le Thao Nguyen.

This year’s championship promises to be full of excitement and surprise, as nearly one third of players taking part in the male category are world grand masters and have participated in various international tournaments.

Apart from the top Vietnamese players, outstanding names include Ding Liren, Ni Hua, Yu Yangyi and former Asian champion Zhou Jianchao from China , Negi Parimarjan from India and So Wesley from the Philippines .

The category for women will also be tough with many famous players, including Chinese players Ju Wenjun, ranked 3 rd in the world, Zhao Xue, winner of FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2011 and Tan Zhongyi, one of the world’s top 20.

Following the 11 th Asian Chess Championship, Vietnam will also host the Southeast Asian championships for various ages, which is scheduled to be held from June 10-19 in the central province of Thua Thien Hue.-VNA