Chess recruitment and human chess game

For over a year, since preparing to compete at the 31st SEA Games and the upcoming 32nd SEA Games, the composition of the Chinese chess team has always been a controversial topic among experts and chess lovers. Only extremely drastic behind-the-scenes actions can help the 2022 Vietnamese champion Nguyen Hoang Yen to be able to participate in the congress at home and win the individual bronze medal while the championship belongs to her compatriot Le Thi Kim Loan.

Mentioning the story of Nguyen Hoang Yen shows that this chess player from Ho Chi Minh City really has a hard time even though her talent has always helped her to be the leader of the Vietnamese women's chess community. Luckily, she was able to attend the 31st SEA Games at the last minute, but she was unexpectedly not on the list of participants for the 2022 World Championship. It was not until public opinion spoke up that those responsible for the Chess Department - General Department of Sports and Physical Training reluctantly let her go to Malaysia to compete and won 4th place in the world in the women's singles event.

Hoang Yen won the silver medal in women's singles in standard chess at the 2022 National Sports Festival; won all three gold medals in rapid chess, blitz chess, and standard chess at the 2023 National Championship, won the "double" of rapid chess and standard chess championship at the 2023 National Team Championship, but she was still absent in a very incomprehensible way when the General Department of Sports and Physical Training decided to call up the Vietnamese chess team to perform international duties this year, the first of which is the 32nd SEA Games.

An unparalleled achievement, but the reason why Nguyen Hoang Yen was not chosen to represent Vietnamese chess to compete in the international arena, the clear and complete explanation is that only the Department of Chess - General Department of Sports and Physical Training can explain. Meanwhile, SEA Games 31 champion Le Thi Kim Loan almost "disappeared" in domestic tournaments (10th place at the 2022 National Sports Festival, empty-handed at the 2022 National Strong Player Tournament, won only a silver medal in blitz chess at the 2023 National Championship and could not even make it into the top 4 of the events of the 2023 National Team Championship) but was unexpectedly named to compete at SEA Games 32 despite being absent from the team's concentration list in February!

Tuyển cờ tướng và ván cờ nhân sự - Ảnh 1.

Vu Quoc Dat (HCMC, left) played very well but was absent from the national team. (Photo: DANG HAI)

The list of women's teams is already "a sad story", the men's team is a long-running drama about the localization of the team and many rumors about "banning" a strong center of Vietnamese chess. Before the 2023 National Championship kicked off in early February, the General Department of Sports and Physical Training suddenly announced the decision to call up the chess team.

It is called "surprising" because this call-up does not comply with the criteria including achievements at the National Strong Player Tournament the previous year and the National Championship the following year. Not to mention the announcement of the team list before the National Championship took place was criticized by fans as "psychologically disturbing" for strong players. Because, all have put in the effort to practice to compete for high rankings, big prizes and qualifications to join the team through this top event.

Chinese chess has not yet appeared at SEA Games 32, but the Vietnamese team's personnel chess game has made fans sad.

There was a phenomenon of " Binh Phuoc -izing the national team" in the list of players participating in the 2022 World Championship. The Vietnamese team participating in the 32nd SEA Games is also in a similar situation when 4/6 players from Binh Phuoc are Nguyen Thanh Bao, Ha Van Tien, Dang Cuu Tung Lan, Chu Tuan Hai, although not all players have achievements worthy of being on the national team.

DINH LONG

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