44-year-old chess player wins national rapid chess championship

On the morning of April 25, veteran chess player Tu Hoang Thong (HCMC) excellently won the gold medal in the men's rapid chess event at the national chess tournament held in Hue.

From Hoang Thong won the National Championship at the age of 44, photo: Bach Duong

With elo 2,394, Tu Hoang Thong ranked 19/34 in terms of elo compared to his opponents at the starting line, especially since the tournament had the participation of Vietnam's number 2 player Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son (Can Tho, elo 2,634).

In the first game, Tu Hoang Thong caused a surprise when he defeated Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son. With high spirits, Tu Hoang Thong defeated two more young talents of Vietnamese chess, Le Tuan Minh (Binh Duong) and Tran Minh Thang (Hanoi) in games 2 and 3. Tu Hoang Thong's loser was also national player Nguyen Van Huy. With a result of 5 wins and 4 draws, Tu Hoang Thong scored 7 points, 0.5 points more than the second-ranked player Lu Chan Hung (Kien Giang) and 1 point more than the third-ranked player Tran Tuan Minh (Hanoi).

Tu Hoang Thong was born in 1972, started playing chess in 1982 (10 years old), which means that up to now he has been competing for 34 years. His record of achievements is 4 times national championship besides the record of youngest national champion in Vietnam (at 14 years old) which no player has broken to date. Currently, in addition to playing chess, he is also the Director of Smartchess Training School, a prestigious chess school in Ho Chi Minh City that attracts many children to study.

Pham Le Thao Nguyen confirmed the number 1 female position, photo: Bach Duong

In the women's rapid chess event, Vietnam's No. 1 player Pham Le Thao Nguyen (Can Tho) maintained a stable performance, winning the gold medal with 8 points after 9 games. Thao Nguyen had the same score as Vo Thi Kim Phung (Bac Giang) but ranked above her opponent thanks to a better goal difference.

According to Thanhnien