Good player
With intellectual sports, Vietnam has had many outstanding professional players. The most typical example is player Lai Ly Huynh who just won the 2025 World Chess Championship. Lai Ly Huynh is the first Vietnamese player to win a Gold Medal in the standard chess individual event at the World Chess Championship.
In addition to this player, chess players currently have many other outstanding faces such as Nguyen Thanh Bao, Nguyen Minh Nhat Quang, Nguyen Hoang Yen, Le Thi Kim Loan, Dam Thi Thuy Dung, Kieu Bich Thuy... Chess lovers nationwide know well about them. In chess, Vietnamese sports include Le Quang Liem, Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, Le Tuan Minh, Tran Tuan Minh, Pham Le Thao Nguyen, Vo Thi Kim Phung, Hoang Thi Bao Tram, Dao Thien Hai, Nguyen Anh Khoi, Nguyen Thi Mai Hung, Nguyen Thi Thanh An... have reached the world's grandmaster level. They have achieved good competition results in many domestic and international tournaments.
"Vietnam has many good and qualified players. However, in the Asian and world arenas, in chess, countries all have outstanding faces. Therefore, we are always cautious when competing in international arenas, said Mr. Nguyen Minh Thang - head of the chess department (Vietnam Department of Physical Education and Sports) and Vice President and General Secretary of the Vietnam Chess Federation.
At this time in Vietnam, chess and chess have had the establishment of a sports federation, operating independently. This shows that each sport has the opportunity to develop when each Sports Federation does a good investment program.
Chess is an intellectual sport, different from athletics. This is a sport that is oriented towards mental movement, so the training and coaching of players depends a lot on the teachers and qualities of the players, said a representative of the coaching staff of the Vietnam General Chess Team.
Many opinions have in common that athletes participating in intellectual sports (including chess) must also practice, practice skills and compete regularly to develop their qualifications.
Waiting for outstanding achievements
The individual Gold Medal at the 2025 World Chess Championship of player Lai Ly Huynh is a historic result that Vietnamese intellectual sports have achieved. In addition to chess, Vietnamese chess has won many Gold Medals in Asian, Southeast Asian or world age groups.
However, at the level of the Congress, Vietnamese chess players have not won the ASIAD. The best result came at the SEA Games Gold Medal. Intellectual sports events were officially organized by the Asian Olympic Council (OCA) at the ASIAD in 2006.
After participating in chess and chess many times, Vietnamese players have not won Gold Medals here. The most recent results at the 19th ASIAD, Vietnamese players won 1 Silver Medal and 1 Bronze Medal in chess. Chess players do not win medals.
Currently, Vietnamese chess is ranked first in the world by Lai Ly Huynh while chess is ranked in the top 20 in the world by Le Quang Liem. How to make Vietnamese intellectual sports achieve sustainable results and win many medals in important arenas is still a problem that needs to be solved.
During the year, the Vietnam Chess Federation and the Vietnam Chess Federation organize many national system tournament programs. According to experts' analysis, intellectual sports are unique and their level does not depend on age. For that reason, finding new faces that are at their birth rate is not easy.
We are always paying attention to young faces in many tournaments to discover new talents for Vietnamese intellectual sports. However, chess is similar to another sport in that it requires investment resources. The turkey will develop well if there is proper and long-term investment," said Mr. Nguyen Minh Thang.
