VietNamNet Bridge – 2013 was a good year for Vietnamese chess at both regional and world arenas and the 2014 schedule is packed with opportunities for further success.

Vietnamese chess saw the historical world blitz chess championship title won by international super-grandmaster Le Quang Liem at the world rapid and blitz championships. (Illustrative image – File photo)

Looking back to last year, Vietnamese chess saw the historical world blitz chess championship title won by international super-grandmaster Le Quang Liem at the world rapid and blitz championships in Khanty-Mansiysk (Russia). It was the first time ever a Vietnamese chess player finished supreme at a world championship for seniors.

Along with Liem’s success, Vo Thi Kim Phung won double of gold at the 2013 Asian U-20 Chess Championships; Hoang Thanh Trang was crowned champion at the 2013 European Individual Chess Championships; Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son secured two gold medals at the 27th Southeast Asian Games; and the national chess team won a gold medal at the 2013 Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games team blitz in Incheon, the Republic of Korea.

Those miracles achieved by the country’s outstanding players has drawn up an extremely impressive picture of Vietnamese chess in 2013, while inspiring Vietnamese chess to strive towards new successes in a 2014 with a lot of goals and expectations.

Big competitions lie in wait for Vietnam’s chess players this year. First up is the 4th HDBank Cup International Chess Open Tournament, to be held on March 9-16 in Ho Chi Minh City. Liem, reigning champion of the tournament, is looking forward to defending his crown.

The Women's World Rapid and Blitz Championships to be held in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia will be next, taking place April 23-30, trailed by the World Amateur Chess Championships from April 25 to May 4 in Singapore.

Young Vietnamese chess stars will compete in the 15th ASEAN+ Age-Group Chess Championships (Macau) and the Asian Youth Chess Championships (Uzbekistan) in June before taking part in the Asian Junior U20 Championships 2014, hosted by Yemen in August, and then the World Junior U20 Championships in India two months later. Eyes will be on defending Asian U20 champion Vo Thi Kim Phung.

The year’s most anticipated tournament is the 2014 World Rapid and Blitz Championships, scheduled for June 15-2 in Dubai, UAE. High expectations are placed on Quang Liem to repeat last year’s success in this competition.

2014 is not just about chess. Set for this year are many important tournaments for Vietnamese xiangqi (Chinese chess) masters, including the HanXin Cup Xiangqi International Tournament (China, May), the Asian Team Xiangqi Championship (Taiwan, September), the World Team Xiangqi Championship (Germany, October), the Yang GuangLin Cup Xiangqi Open (China, November) and the Southeast Asian Xiangqi Championships (Malaysia, November).

Outside of international competitions, chess players nationwide will take part in several domestic tournaments, notably the 7th National Sports Festival – the year’s focal sporting event of the country. Chess and xiangqi matches are to be held in Quang Ninh Province in November for individuals and team disciplines. This promises to be an ideal opportunity for new promising young talent to be discovered and nurtured for the future’s national teams.

Source: Nhan Dan