Liem on February 2 drew with Vitaly Kunin of Germany to earn 2.5 points and rank sixth. 

The Vietnamese master who is the 16th seed, earlier defeated two Russian rivals on Feb. 1. In his next match, Liem will play Yaroslav Yandemirov of the host nation. 

Liem is the only Vietnamese representative at the event, which has lured 187 of the best players in the world such as Alexander Motylev of Russia, Bu Xiangzhi of China and Viktor Bologan of Moldova.