Vice President and General Secretary of the Vietnam Chess Federation, Mr. Nguyen Minh Thang, said that the goal of striving for 2 gold medals for Vietnamese players at the 33rd SEA Games is built on the actual forecasted strength and expertise.
The 33rd SEA Games chess competition will organize maruk chess (a competition form like snail chess in Vietnam, 4 sets of medals), chess (2 sets of medals) and Asean chess (2 sets of medals).
With chess, the Vietnam Chess Team is responsible for competing for the highest achievement. The chess team only competes in the men's sprint chess team and the women's sprint chess team.
The team of 6 players registered to compete in the 33rd SEA Games includes Le Tuan Minh, Bang Gia Huy, Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, Pham Le Thao Nguyen, Vo Thi Kim Phung and Bach Ngoc Thuy Duong.
Recently, grandmaster Le Tuan Minh won 2 gold medals (fast flag, individual chess) at the 2025 Asian Intellectual Sports Festival. The players are focusing on professional preparation to prepare for the 33rd SEA Games.
Two years ago at the 32nd SEA Games in 2023 in Cambodia, the Vietnam Chess Team won 2 gold medals for the ouk chaktrang flag (a competition method similar to the maruk flag and snail flag in Vietnam).
Therefore, the coaching staff is very confident that Vietnamese players can find good results at the 33rd SEA Games in this traditional chess sport. Maruk is a familiar traditional intellectual sport in Thailand. For the first time, this sport is included in the official competition program of the Southeast Asian Games.
