The journey to become an international female chess grandmaster of a girl from Nghe An

Nghe An Newspaper reporter had an interesting conversation with the athletechessDiem Quynh to understand more about her journey to fame with chess as well as understand more about her struggles and efforts in studying and training.

During her competition journey, Quynh has won over 100 medals of all kinds. Photo: NVCC

PV: Can you tell us what made you love and come to chess?

Tran Thi Diem Quynh:I started playing chess when I was 7 years old. At that time, my father wanted me to develop comprehensively, not only culturally but also in other activities outside of school. My father registered me in gifted classes at the Viet Duc Children's Cultural House in 3 subjects: Fine Arts, Karate and Chess. Teacher Hai at the center discovered my talent for chess and gave me the opportunity to practice like a professional athlete. The interesting thing is that at first, chess was the subject I hated the most, but gradually I began to realize the appeal behind each chess game and that love still exists today.

PV: The training process in this subject must be very difficult?

Tran Thi Diem Quynh:The first time of practice was not easy for me, it could be said that it was a bit harsh. Honestly, if playing chess was just for fun, I think it would not be difficult, but playing to become an excellent player requires a lot of effort. There were days when I spent about 12 hours practicing chess, including time at the center and time at home. I am very grateful to Mr. Son - Nghe An chess coach who always cared for me and created the best conditions for me during that long and arduous process.

PV: What do you think are your strengths in chess?

Tran Thi Diem Quynh:I am a person who likes certainty and precision in every move, so standard chess, also known as slow chess with a relatively long time of 3-5 hours, is my strength. That is shown through my standard chess achievements, which are much higher than other chess genres. My weakness is probably that I have not spent much time practicing blitz chess, so I still do not have a certain reflex for this genre.

PV: Please tell us about the first medal you won?

Tran Thi Diem Quynh:MedalThe first achievement I achieved was when I participated in the Central Youth Chess Open Tournament in Quang Binh in 2009. It must be said that this tournament was a great motivation for me on my path to pursuing chess. At that time, I had been learning chess for 6 months, so I had great expectations for the first tournament I participated in. That tournament had the participation of quite old women who also competed in my group. Thanks to the encouragement of my parents and Mr. Son, I was not afraid of older and more experienced opponents than me. After the tournament, I won 2 individual medals in both events of the tournament: 1 gold medal in standard chess and 1 silver medal in blitz chess.

PV: Tell us about the award you were most proud of when you won it? The fierce competition you overcame?

Tran Thi Diem Quynh:The prize I am most proud of is also the prize that helped me win the most prestigious title in my career up to now, which is the East Asian Youth Chess Tournament held in Mongolia in 2017. I participated in the tournament with the mindset of being really "inexperienced" in international arenas but also quite "famous" in my domestic group, so I did not feel too nervous or anxious like the first tournaments. Thanks to that, I also had a quite comfortable mentality and always reminded myself to play chess to contribute really good games to the tournament. I think it was that spirit that helped me win the Gold Medal in Standard Chess before 1 round of the tournament, and was also awarded the title of Women FIDE Master - International Women's Chess Master.

PV: Please tell us the number of medals you have won?

Tran Thi Diem Quynh:I won about 100 medals.

PV: So you must have many interesting memories during your journey participating in chess?

Tran Thi Diem Quynh:There is a memory that I consider a lesson until now. In grade 3, I participated in the Phu Dong Sports Festival at the cluster level. At that time, I had been a professional chess player for about a year and had achieved certain results. I participated in that tournament as a "movement", so I developed a taboo mentality of chess players: Subjectivity. Therefore, I lost a game with an extremely silly mistake. I thought about quitting chess because I was so embarrassed. However, I did not do that. Through that incident, I learned a valuable lesson about the true sportsmanship of chess players.

Dang Thi Diem Quynh is an excellent chess athlete and is also an outstanding student at Hanoi Foreign Trade University. Photo: NVCC

PV: As an excellent chess player, you are also very good at studying culture, so how do you allocate your time to be able to meet both of these requirements?

Tran Thi Diem Quynh:I don’t dare to say that I can balance studying and playing chess well, but I always remind myself to do my best with what I am doing. With chess, I try not to be distracted during practice, when I study, I study thoroughly, understanding the essence of each move. The same goes for studying culture, I also focus maximum on subjects that are considered to serve the exams, the remaining subjects are studied to expand my knowledge.

PV: What an impressive achievement for a female student, so can you tell us about your life and your current study situation?

Tran Thi Diem Quynh:I am currently a 3rd year student majoring in High Quality Accounting and Auditing with the output of the UK international certificate ACCA and a regular bachelor's degree from Foreign Trade University, Hanoi. In addition, I am one of 6 students selected to participate in the 1-year PAMS - Partnership of Management School exchange program related to digital transformation subjects built by Foreign Trade University in collaboration with 5 different universities in Asia. In the 2020-2021 school year, I was honored to be one of 4 students of the Faculty of Accounting and Auditing honored as exemplary students with outstanding academic achievements and extracurricular activities of Foreign Trade University. In addition, I am currently on the Executive Board of the Chess Club of Foreign Trade University and also a member of the 21st generation FPT Youth Talent Center.

PV: So can you share your future plans?

Tran Thi Diem Quynh:My third year is quite busy with schoolwork and club activities, but I still prioritize studying. Next year, I will take the Global exam to complete the Advanced Diploma in Accounting and Business level of the ACCA program. I was lucky enough to win the ACCA Futurist scholarship from ACCA Vietnam, so I will have to be even more responsible in the exam in 2022. Besides, I am also planning to take the IELTS exam next year to serve the recruitment exam at large enterprises after graduation.

PV: So how do you arrange your goals and plans in chess?

Duc Anh