Binh Duong chess player and his Asian outreach

With the recently winning gold medal in the men's individual standard chess at the 32nd SEA Games, chess player Lai Ly Huynh from Ca Mau, currently playing in Binh Duong's squad, has almost no opponent in the Southeast Asia. Now is the time for the monument of Binh Duong chess to aim further towards achieving higher at ASIAD 2023.

Player Lai Ly Huynh is the first athlete of Binh Duong to win gold at SEA Games 32. Photo: Hai Tung

On May 13, the Vietnamese chess team finished competing in the individual standard chess for men and women at the 32nd SEA Games. At the event, in addition to the bronze medals of Nguyen Thanh Bao, the silver medal of Le Thi Kim Loan, the biggest golden hope is still placed on the chess player Lai Ly Huynh. Not to disappoint the fans, the lonely win and lose of Vietnamese chess in turn won against the Malaysian opponent and drew with a score against the Singaporean player to close 5 games with a total of 8 points, thereby, taking the first place in men's individual chess to win gold medal.

It can be said that Lai Ly Huynh experienced uncertainties about the selection of the team squad before entering the competition at the 32nd SEA Games. However, he did not pay too much attention to the issues. On the sidelines, not wanting to affect his mentality and performance, player Lai Ly Huynh overcame them all with his bravery and real combat experience. At that time, the players on the staff of Binh Duong focused on training and forging chess in pre-SEA Games tournaments, waiting for the official competition date. Finally, the commission came to Lai Ly Huynh in the competition that is most interested by chess fans, which is standard chess.

Having to face the region's top players from Singapore, the Philippines or Malaysia, Lai Ly Huynh determined that it was not easy to win. With the right tactics to solve opponents one by one, Lai Ly Huynh and his teammate Nguyen Thanh Bao won gold and bronze medals for the Vietnamese chess team. For Lai Ly Huynh, this was his second consecutive gold medal at a Southeast Asian Games. Previously, he also brought home the gold medal for Binh Duong at the 2022 National Sports Festival.

With the achievements, Lai Ly Huynh is currently only behind the two previous men - Mai Thanh Minh and Trinh A Sang in terms of the domestic stage with 5 national championships and a gold medal at the Olympic Games. But if we have a look at the achievements in international tournaments, it is difficult for anyone to surpass the player playing for Binh Duong. Therefore, it is understandable that Lai Ly Huynh aims to achieve higher results for Vietnamese chess when preparing to compete in ASIAD next September in Hangzhou of China, which is also the highest goal of Vietnamese chess in 2023. Hopefully, chess player Lai Ly Huynh with the available performance, experience in many national and international tournaments and achievements will continue to bring glory to Vietnam in general and Binh Duong in particular.

Reported by Thai Hai from Phnom Penh – Translated by Vi Bao