VN chess players set to win five golds at SEA Game 31
VOV.VN - After conceding a bitter defeat at the 30th Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) held in the Philippines in 2019, Vietnamese chess players have set sights on winning five gold medals at the upcoming SEA Games 31.
Vietnamese chess players left the Philippines three years ago without a single gold medal, and they are now training hard for competitions this May when Vietnam plays host to the SEA games 31.
The men’s team have only four members instead of five due to regulations set out by the SEA Games 31’s organisers, whilst child prodigy Nguyen Anh Khoi was not summoned for individual reasons.
The male team comprise familiar faces such as Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, grandmaster Le Quang Liem, and young talents Tran Tuan Minh and Le Tuan Minh.
Le Quang Liem goes into the regional competition with the highest hopes having competed in many global chess tournaments over the past two years. The GM is expected to win gold medals for the Vietnamese team.
Whilst the women’s team lack the talents of Luong Phuong Hanh and Nguyen Thien Ngan, they pin high hopes on Vo Thi Kim Phung, who obtained the champion title at a national tournament.
Another Vietnamese hopeful is Hoang Bao Tram who bagged a gold medal at SEA Games 2003. Other young talents such as Bach Ngoc Thuy Duong, Pham Le Thao Nguyen, and Nguyen Thi Mai Hung have also been called up to play in the regional games.
A new challenge awaits the Vietnamese women's team that ranked 15th in the world at the 2018 Olympiad.
SEA Games 31 will see many Indonesian players who have a high Elo ratings as well as naturalised Singaporean players competing in the event, meaning that reaching 50% of total gold medals in the chess category represents an extremely difficult task for the Vietnamese players.
Chess is considered one of the most attractive competitions at the SEA Games 31 as it spans rapid chess, blitz chess, and standard chess for the men’s individuals, women’s individuals, men's team, and women's team.
