Hau Giang Chess and the resource gap

After more than ten years of building the movement, the provincial chess department still faces many difficulties in finding successor resources and developing to the highest level.

Chess classes in Nga Bay city maintain training, preparing for upcoming tournaments.

Training from preschool, kindergarten, but...

The development orientation of Hau Giang chess over the past years has been to focus on training athletes right in kindergartens and preschools, after the training process, outstanding factors will be selected. The search for basic talent is limited to localities where there is already a movement. In addition to Vi Thanh city, the department has been transferring resource selection to Nga Bay city since the end of November last year, with about 60 children. In early January 2023, the coaching staff will conduct tests and evaluate the development ability during the learning process and select 8 children with qualities and talents to continue training. Training time is from Monday to Thursday every week, from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Mr. Le Tran Minh Nhat, provincial chess coach, said: “Some children have talent, but learning in class and entering competitions are completely different. They will be given the opportunity to participate in the upcoming tournament, competing in the U6 age group. This will become an important test for practical experience, through which the coaching staff will test their abilities and adjust the teaching plan, train and re-select those who are capable of adding to the provincial team.”

However, the current chess resources of Hau Giang still have many gaps, and achievements cannot be maintained for a long time because many cases have said goodbye to their athletic careers after a few years of association. This is the reason why, although Hau Giang chess has developed, it only stops at national and club level tournaments, while at the Mekong Delta Sports Festival or the National Sports Festival, there are still not enough players to compete. Mr. Nguyen Tan Tung, coach of Hau Giang chess team, shared: “Our biggest concern is that the team is still quite thin, so we cannot compete fairly with opponents in many major tournaments. Many players after the training process see no development and are forced to be eliminated. After the tournaments, the coaching board will continue to develop the school club according to the current orientation”.

What Hau Giang chess is lacking is finding outstanding talents, developing the movement at the grassroots level, organizing many tournaments, regular exchanges and activities, and improving the effectiveness of youth training classes. Looking at the broader areas with strong chess movements such as Hanoi, Hai Phong, Ho Chi Minh City, Can Tho, all maintain the tournament system of the federation, the education sector, etc., creating opportunities for talents to be discovered, selected and honed to become more mature.

Difficult to reach...

Developing the movement and organizing a variety of tournaments will be important factors in discovering and providing more rough gems for local chess. Many potential athletes, if given the opportunity to train and compete regularly in national and international tournaments, will see their chess skills improve rapidly. Tournaments and movements interact and support each other, creating an important environment to promote the development of the sport. Should the province have more tournaments for young players or organize annual traditional chess tournaments? However, in reality, most districts, towns and cities in the province rarely organize chess-related tournaments, the movement is not very prominent, and there are not many socialized resources... so it is quite difficult to reach the level.

The good news is that over the years, the provincial chess department has always had the support of parents in providing their children with many new playgrounds to regularly update their knowledge and competition skills. The department has also invested in facilities to keep up with modern trends, apply information technology, create conditions to participate in many training courses, competitions, etc. Provincial chess player Le Minh Thu said: "Practicing chess helps me train my personality and brain every day. During the competition, I am very calm, confident, and decisive to come up with the best solutions."

To make good moves, athletes need to calculate and come up with strategies, predict the opponent's moves to calculate the next options. Therefore, athletes are required to have a stable mentality, not be influenced by the environment and especially ensure physical strength. In the near future, chess will be a sport included in the competition program of the 8th Hau Giang Province Phu Dong Sports Festival in 2023, this will be a positive signal for the department to be able to select and supplement the necessary resources to serve long-term development goals.

Hau Giang Chess Team currently has 7 youth, gifted and semi-talented athletes, aged 9-15. Outstanding achievements of chess in recent times include winning 6 gold medals at the 2019 Southeast Asian Open Age Group Chess Championship; 1 gold at the 2021 National Excellent Youth Chess Championship; 2 gold medals at the 2022 Online Rapid Chess Championship for Age Groups, Region 3.3, etc. Since the beginning of the year, the team has participated in the Mekong Delta Open Age Group Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship, bringing home 1 gold, 3 silver, and 10 bronze.

On average, each year, the team participates in 3-4 national and regional tournaments, winning 15-20 medals of all kinds. In 2023, Hau Giang chess will participate in 3 more tournaments: Southeast Asian Youth Chess Championship for Men and Women (June in Thailand), National Youth Chess Championship (July in Can Tho), National Excellent Youth Chess Championship (September in Thai Nguyen).

Article and photos: HONG NHUNG

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