Position of qualifications
Closing the final match of the Ngu Duong Boi Chess Tournament 2026 (afternoon of March 1 in China), Lai Ly Huynh did not win, accepting the runner-up position, after chess player Trinh Vu Dong. Many comments and congratulations were sent to Lai Ly Huynh when he won the runner-up position at the Ngu Duong Boi Chess Tournament for the first time.
Lai Ly Huynh himself shared on his personal page right in China: "Thank you to all the audience and the Chinese Chess Federation for inviting me to participate in the Ngu Duong Boi tournament. Although not yet champion, reaching the final and bringing home the historic runner-up title is a great pride. I will continue to try to raise this prestigious cup one day.
In fact, the runner-up position at the Ngu Duong Boi 2026 Chess tournament is considered one of the valuable achievements that Lai Ly Huynh has achieved from international tournaments in the past 2 years. The tournament only selected 15 top Chinese players (after the qualifying round ended, there were hundreds of players) and 1 slot of Lai Ly Huynh to organize the final round.
Since the individual standard chess gold medal at the 2025 World Chess Championship, Lai Ly Huynh has received more attention from the media and experts. In all participating tournaments, Lai Ly Huynh confidently affirmed his level to prove that the championship is not entirely about luck but from professional ability.
The pressure of a world champion
In live images of the final match of the Ngu Duong Boi Chess Tournament 2026, everyone saw chess player Trinh Vu Dong of the host country burst into tears of happiness when he defeated Lai Ly Huynh. This shows that the male chess player of the host country and the entire Chinese chess world greatly respect Lai Ly Huynh.
Many people understand that the championship at the 2025 World Chess Championship is invisibly a pressure for Lai Ly Huynh at this time. Since the 2025 World Chess Championship, the Chinese chess world has always waited for important tournaments to have players surpass Lai Ly Huynh.
At the Cao Nham Lei Chess Tournament held in January 2026 in China, Ly Huynh was invited to compete but did not achieve good results, having to stand behind top chess players such as Cao Nham Lei, Xu Guoyi, and Zhao Fanwei.
Then in the 1 to 1 friendly match with 10 games held at the beginning of January 2026, the Chinese chess scene focused on watching the match between the number 1 host player Tao Nham Loi and Lai Ly Huynh. At the 2025 Asian Intellectual Games held in Singapore at the end of 2025, Lai Ly Huynh participated and many Chinese players such as: Manh Phon Due, Doan Thang, Vuong Vu Bac, Vuong Gia Thuy... also looked for opportunities to overcome the Vietnamese player.
At a conversation with Chinese media during his participation in the Ngu Duong Boi Chess Tournament 2026, Lai Ly Huynh humbly expressed his honor at being able to compete with many famous chess players of Chinese chess. Representatives of Vietnamese chess frankly said that when the tournament started, they did not think they could reach the final. "I am not sure if I can pass the outer round with a dense schedule against top chess players. Reaching the final has brought me a lot of emotion and I feel somewhat lucky," the Vietnamese male chess player told the Chinese host media.
Each chess tournament brings a professional value. Above all, Lai Ly Huynh overcame the pressure to win rankings against Chinese players, which is the success of the individual player.
