World media 'shocked' by Vietnam's chess achievements at Olympiad 2024

TPO - The Vietnamese chess team is maintaining an undefeated record at the 2024 Olympiad and has received countless compliments from the world media after holding the Chinese team to a 2-2 draw.

The Olympiad is held every two years and is considered the World Cup of chess with 197 open teams and 183 women's teams from around the world participating, including a total of nearly 2,000 players. At the 2024 Olympiad, the Vietnamese open team brought 5 players: Le Quang Liem, Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, Le Tuan Minh, Tran Tuan Minh, Bang Gia Huy with an average Elo of 2,593. The Vietnamese team fell into a difficult group, but surprisingly won all 5 of their first matches against Liechtenstein, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, defending champion Uzbekistan and 11th seed Poland. In the latest match, the Vietnamese team excellently held the Chinese team to a 2-2 draw after Le Quang Liem defeated chess king Dinh Lap Nhan in the final game.

Chess King Dinh Lap Nhan is powerless against Le Quang Liem

With 5 wins and 1 draw, the Vietnamese team has had the best start in the history of participating in the Olympiad. Currently, the Vietnamese team is temporarily ranked second in the open group with 11 points, just behind the second seed India - the only team that has won all 6 matches played. Therefore, the world media was surprised by the performance of Le Quang Liem and his teammates. The homepage of the World Chess Federation (FIDE) commented: "The Vietnamese team had an amazing match to stop China's winning streak. Vuong Nguyet (2,637) defeated Tran Tuan Minh (2,434) before the last game, but the leader of Vietnamese chess Le Quang Liem successfully "repaid his debt" by overcoming world champion Dinh Lap Nhan". Meanwhile, Reddit's chess forum praised Le Quang Liem: "The Vietnamese player defeated Dinh Lap Nhan with a perfect Rook endgame move. Le Quang Liem reached his peak after this game. His Elo rating and ranking both increased." Today, the 2024 Olympiad is temporarily suspended. The teams will continue to compete in the remaining 5 rounds from September 18. The Vietnamese team has a chance to achieve the highest achievement in history. In previous Olympiads, the open team and the Vietnamese women's team only reached 7th place.

Tienphong.vn

Source: https://tienphong.vn/truyen-thong-the-gioi-soc-voi-thanh-tich-cua-co-vua-viet-nam-olympiad-2024-post1673952.tpo