Vietnamese chess player unexpectedly won silver medal at world youth tournament

The Ho Chi Minh City chess player surprised everyone when he won the silver medal at the U10 World Youth Championship, which took place in Batumi, Georgia recently.

The World Youth Chess Championship U8, U10 and U12 had 728 players from 66 countries competing. Nguyen Quoc Hy won a silver medal in the U10 men's standard chess category.

The U10 age group of the open group had 150 players registered to compete and Quoc Hy was only ranked 23rd before the start of the competition with elo 1,846. Therefore, the fact that Quoc Hy overcame many strong opponents to win the silver medal was a big surprise.

Quoc Hy (red shirt) on the podium receiving the silver medal and Cup at the recent World Youth Championship. Photo: LĐCVTP.

With 8.5 points (seven wins, three draws and one loss) after 11 games, Quoc Hy defeated many opponents who were rated much higher such as: Mendonca Leon Luke (India, elo 2,133), Tugstumur Yesuntumur (Mongolia, elo 2,150)... This 10-year-old player also drew with Russian player Makoveev Ilya (elo 2,204), who won the gold medal with an undefeated record of 11 games (seven wins, four draws).

Quoc Hy's achievement brought the Vietnamese team the only medal at this tournament. Also at this tournament last year, the player from Ho Chi Minh City did not win a medal, while Nguyen Le Cam Hien won a gold medal in the U8 age group.

Coming to chess at the age of six, Quoc Hy was sent by his family to practice at MaiKa Chess Club. After that, with impressive achievements in student and youth tournaments in Ho Chi Minh City, Quoc Hy was transferred to practice at Tan Binh center with leading coaches, including famous chess player Tu Hoang Thong.

Thanks to proper training, Hy has made continuous progress and has been tested in many international tournaments. He has won a number of achievements in Southeast Asian and Asian youth arenas, but the world silver medal is the most prestigious title to date.

Quoc Hy showed talent early on, but his family wanted him to only consider chess as an extracurricular activity and focus on his studies. Photo: LĐCVTP.

Mr. Lam Minh Chau, coach of the Vietnamese chess team, commented: "Quoc Hy has good qualities and a very tough playing style. He also has the advantage of family support, so his potential for development is great."

Currently, Quoc Hy is a 5th grade student at Bang Van Tran Primary School (Tan Binh District). Over the years, he has always been an excellent student. Besides his passion for chess, this young player also reads comics and watches movies. Whenever he has free time, Quoc Hy is sent by his parents to swimming lessons to develop his height and muscles, as well as to help him train better for intense chess games.

According to VNE