Vietnam’s chess ace, Le Quang Liem, is preparing hard for next month’s Super grandmaster contest in Dortmund, Germany, where he finished second last year.

Liem will clash with top players like 4th-ranked Russian Vladimir Kramnik (Elo 2785), 8th-ranked American Hikaru Nakamura (Elo 2774), 11th-ranked Ukrainian Russian Ponomariov (Elo 2754).

Late last month, Liem participated in the 46th Capablanca Chess Memorial in Havana and finished second at the contest with 19.8 points.

The website www.2700chess.com (which provides updates about chess players with Elo rankings above 2,700) moved Liem from the 34th to the 28th spot (with 2,714.8 points) after playing for the French club Evry Grand Roque.

Liem helped the club finish third in the French Chess League Top 16, held from May 25 to June 6.

GM Liem, who is the only Vietnamese to enter to world’s top 100, will enter the top 20 if he wins the July 21-31 contest in Germany.