Lai Ly Huynh entered the world chess finals for the first time

In the eighth game that ended this morning, November 24, Hanoi time, Ly Huynh was behind but won against Hong Kong player Wong Hok Him. With two points from this victory, the Vietnamese player finished the eighth game with 13 points, leading with Manh Than. The player with the third best result, Ngo Tong Han (Alvin Woo), only got 12 points, so he missed out on a spot in the finals.

According to the rules, the top two players after eight rounds will play in the final. Ly Huynh has the opportunity to overthrow China's dominance in world chess for the first time. He will go first, meeting Meng Chen at 10 p.m. today, November 24, Hanoi time.

The World Xiangqi Championship has been held every two years since 1990, and Chinese players have always won the men's singles in the standard chess event. The best result by a Vietnamese player is a silver medal, won by Nguyen Thanh Bao in Shandong, China in 2009.

This year's tournament is the 18th edition, taking place in Houston, Texas from November 19 to November 24, and is also the first time it is held in the US. The tournament has 13 participating teams, including teams from outside Asia such as England, Germany, Canada and the US. The events include men's and women's individual standard chess, men's and women's team standard chess, men's and women's U16 chess, and men's and women's U12 chess. On November 25, the World Rapid Chess Championship will also take place at the same location. Each team is allowed to send a maximum of two players to each event. Vietnam has two representatives, Ly Huynh and Nguyen Minh Nhat Quang.

China initially registered two players, Wang Tianyi and Meng Shen. However, the world's number one player Wang had visa problems and withdrew. China did not have time to add a replacement player, so only Meng Shen was left to represent the world's strongest chess team.

Ly Huynh met Manh Than in the third round, with a draw. After eight games, these two players won five, tied three, ranked first and met again in the final. The remaining players continued to play the ninth game according to the Swiss draw, to calculate the points for the men's team event.

China, without Wang Tianyi, was eliminated from the team event. According to the rules, the order of the teams is based on the total position of the two players after nine games. The team with the lower position wins the championship. Vietnam is the defending champion of the team event, thanks to the historic achievement of Li Huynh and Cheng Bao last year in Malaysia. Before the final round of this tournament, Vietnam was ranked third in the team event, behind Taiwan and Malaysia, because Nhat Quang had only eight points and was outside the Top 10.

Ly Huynh, 33, born in Vinh Long, has won the Vietnamese championship five times. He and Thanh Bao have been the two top players in the country for more than 10 years. This year is the first time Ly Huynh has won a medal in the world standard men's singles, having secured at least a silver medal. This player was the individual champion of the world rapid chess in 2022, and has been invited to China many times to compete in tournaments of strong clubs.

Manh Than is 35 years old and has never won a world individual championship. However, he is the nemesis of Vuong Thien Nhat, having defeated the world's number one player three times in 2017.