Lai Ly Huynh loses his title as world chess champion.

Despite having the advantage, My Lai Ly Huynh lost to Manh Than, failing to bring home Vietnam's first-ever men's singles world chess championship title.

In the final match early morning on November 24th, Hanoi time, Ly Huynh, playing first, had a knight advantage from the middle game and also had a time advantage. Manh Than tried to prolong the game to the endgame, waiting for the number one Vietnamese player to make a mistake. Ultimately, Ly Huynh miscalculated the move to exchange his rook, bringing the game back to a balanced position. His crucial mistake was not capturing the Chinese player's pawn before exchanging the rook, leaving it as a vital defensive piece on the king's side.

After a draw of 101 moves in the standard game, the two players went to a tie-break rapid chess match. This time, the Chinese player, playing first, won in just 35 moves. This result means that Meng Chen extended China's dominance in the men's singles at the World Championships to 18 consecutive games. Meanwhile, Ly Huynh missed the opportunity to make history not only for Vietnam, but for the world of chess.

Lai Ly Huynh (right) in the world chess final against Manh Than in Houston, Texas, USA, on November 24, 2023.

The World Xiangqi Championship is held every two years, starting in 1990, and has since mainly taken place in odd-numbered years. Previously, the best achievement of a Vietnamese player was a silver medal, won by Nguyen Thanh Bao in Shandong, China in 2009.

This year's tournament, held in Houston, Texas from November 19th to 24th, marks the first time it has been organized in the United States. Thirteen teams participated, including non-Asian teams such as Great Britain, Germany, Canada, and the host country. The events included men's and women's individual standard chess, men's and women's team standard chess, U16 men's and women's, and U12 men's and women's. Each team was allowed to field a maximum of two players in each event. Vietnam had two representatives in the men's single standard chess event: Ly Huynh and Nguyen Minh Nhat Quang.

China registered two players for the men's singles event: world number one Wang Tianyi and Meng Chen. These two players were included after finishing in the top two at last year's national championship. However, Wang was unable to participate due to visa issues, and China was unable to send a replacement in time.

35-year-old Mạnh Thần has never won a world individual championship. However, he is a nemesis of Vương Thiên Nhất, having defeated the world number one three times in 2017. 33-year-old Lý Huynh, who won the world rapid chess championship in 2022, is winning his first medal in standard chess at this level.

Chinese chess is an intellectual sport originating from China, dating back several hundred to thousands of years. It has also been popular in Vietnam for hundreds of years, and is currently mainly enjoyed by middle-aged and older people.

The championship earned Manh Than $8,000 in prize money, while Ly Huynh finished second with $5,000. Besides Ly Huynh's silver medal in the men's singles, Vietnam also won one gold, two silver, and two bronze medals in other events. The gold medal was won by Tran Nguyen Minh Hang in the U12 girls' category.

Today, the players will stay to compete in the World Rapid Chess Championship at the same location.

Xuan Binh

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