Chess player Khuong Duy leads the U12 world championship

The tournament consisted of six groups, divided equally into three boys and three girls in the U8, U10 and U12 groups. After five games, only five players still had all-winners, including Dau Khuong Duy in the U12 group - the strongest in the tournament.

Khuong Duy defeated Nasir Rehan (Pakistan), Eyad Elhusseiny (Egypt), Maximilian Pfaltz (Switzerland), Nguyen Manh Duc and Aaron Mendes (Canada) to take sole possession of the top spot. None of the remaining players in the U12 group scored more than four points. In the sixth game, taking place from 7 p.m. today, October 21, Khuong Duy will meet Ferragut Pau Marin (Spain) who has four points.

Khuong Duy was born in 2011, has a standard chess Elo of 2,277, and is ranked 21st in Vietnam. In the U12 world, he is ranked 13th, while the strongest player is Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus (Turkey) with Elo of 2,496. At the U12 world tournament, Khuong Duy is the third seed, while Erdogmus and several other strong players are absent.

In addition to Khuong Duy, Vietnam has six other players in the Top 10, namely Le Phan Hoang Quan (U8), Nguyen Truong An Khang (U10), Nguyen Nam Kiet (U12), Tran Hoang Bao An, Nguyen Thi Phuong Anh (G8) and Tong Thai Hoang An (G12).

The World Junior Chess Championship is held annually, this year in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt from October 16 to October 26, with 11 games for each player. Vietnam has 14 players participating in the tournament, all of whom have achieved half of the maximum score or more. Each age group has an average of 84 players participating, with four of them having achieved the title of FIDE Master (FM), all in the U12 group.

Vietnam has eight players who have won the tournament, including: Dao Thien Hai (U16 event, 1993), Nguyen Thi Dung (U12 women, 1994), Hoang Thanh Trang (U20 women, 1998), Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son (U10, 2000), Le Quang Liem (U14, 2005), Tran Minh Thang (U8, 2008), Nguyen Anh Khoi (U10, 2012 and U12, 2014) and Nguyen Le Cam Hien (U8 women, 2015).