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Where is the number one Vietnamese chess player compared to Chinese chess?

TH (according to VnExpress) January 27, 2025 18:10

Vietnam's number one chess player, Lai Ly Huynh, has an Elo equivalent to China's top 50, but his real strength could be higher than that.

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Lai Ly Huynh (right) received a bronze medal in Chinese chess at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China, with Trieu Ham Ham (left) and Trinh Duy Dong (middle).

Vietnam has had many players competing in China, including Lai Ly Huynh, Nguyen Thanh Bao and Nguyen Minh Nhat Quang. Ly Huynh has achieved the most outstanding results in this group, typically the 2023 Giap Cap Lien Tai championship with Hang Chau.

Based on Ly Huynh's match results with Chinese players, he is currently at 2,500 Elo, according toZtchessThat coefficient will help the number one Vietnamese player stand on par with Grandmaster Trieu Tu Vu in 45th place in China.

However, this coefficient may not accurately assess Li Huynh's strength, because the number of matches he played in China is much less than that of local players. The 35-year-old player played 257 standard Elo games of Chinese chess, including 82 games at the 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2023 Jia-Gap Lien Tai. Meanwhile, Chinese masters of the same age as Li Huynh such as Xie Jing, Cao Yan Lei or Wang Tian Yi have played about 1,000 games or more.

The Jia-Jian Lian Tai is a Chinese team championship that gathers most of the world's chess masters. Li Huynh's opponents in these tournaments are Grandmasters, Special Grandmasters or chess prodigies. In the four times Li Huynh participated in the tournament, the percentage of points he won compared to the maximum score was 56%, 45%, 35% and 58% respectively. He won 23, drew 35 and lost 24 games.

Li Huynh's performance in the most recent tournament was the most impressive, with the championship with Hangzhou. In terms of points won, he ranked 18th (24 points). If calculating the percentage of points won, he ranked 11th (58%). In the six games against China's Top 10 players at the 2023 Jia-Ji Lian Tai, Li Huynh won 2, drew 2 and lost 2 out of 6 games against Meng Shen, Wang Yang and Hong Zhi.

However, it is impossible to confirm that Ly Huynh's chess ability is in the Top 10 of China based on these 6 games. The first reason is that his performance in the 2023 tournament may be better than his actual ability. Moreover, he has never won against other players in the Top 10 of China such as Vuong Thien Nhat, Trinh Duy Dong, Hua Ngan Xuyen, Uong Duong and Hac Ke Sieu in a total of 21 games (9 draws, 12 losses) against these opponents in his career.

Ly Huynh's record against players ranked 11th to 20th in China was 4 wins, 9 draws, 6 losses in 19 games, including opponents Ta Tinh, Lu Kham, Ton Dung Chinh, Luc Vi Thao and Hua Van Chuong. This result shows that he is not much inferior to the above experts.

Li Huynh played even better against the better Chinese players from 21st to 30th place, with 8 wins, 14 draws, and 3 losses, including opponents Cao Yanlei, Wu Junqiang, Zhao Guorong, and Li Shaozhen. He had a better head-to-head record than the first three players, including the four-time Chinese champion Zhao Guorong.

Of course, Ly Huynh has lost to younger players or players outside the Top 50, but has also won against opponents in the Top 10. But in the long run, the above statistics show that he has a slightly better head-to-head record than players ranked 21 to 50, and is not much worse than those ranked 11 to 20.

According to Chinese chess websiteOnly Tien Dam Ky, Lai Li Huynh's chess skills cannot be underestimated. "Li Huynh once defeated Special Grandmaster Cao Yan Lei four times. Yan Lei is famous for his ability to sacrifice pieces, having defeated all the masters from Wang Tian Yi to Zheng Wei Tong," the page wrote. "It is clear that Li Huynh's chess skills are very strong, much better than the provincial champions in China."

Ly Huynh is also considered the strongest non-Chinese player at present. Evaluating his level compared to the Chinese chess community, the site commented: "Optimistically speaking, Ly Huynh can be in the Top 30 of China. But if we are more realistic, there is no doubt that his chess strength is in the Top 50."

In the context of the Chinese chess village being in a serious crisis, with 43 masters banned from competing for match-fixing, Ly Huynh can strive to rise to a higher position.

However, China has rising U18 players, with skills that are no less than those of the masters, such as Meng Fanrui, Wang Yubo, and Liu Baihong. Not to mention, there are still Chinese masters who may not be punished after this crisis, including Jiang Xuyen. Jiang Xuyen himself just defeated Li Huynh 2.5-1.5 in an online friendly match on the evening of January 23.

Therefore, for Vietnam to overthrow the dominance of Chinese chess is another story.

TH (according to VnExpress)
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Where is the number one Vietnamese chess player compared to Chinese chess?