Vietnam maintains winning streak at Chess Olympiad

After the first round break, Quang Liem (Elo 2,741) took the white pieces and met Rahman Mohammad Fahad (2,419) in the first round of the second round. Vietnam's number one player did not castle close but pushed his pawns to the g and h files to attack his opponent's castle. He gained a pawn in the middle game and won after 34 moves.

However, the victory of the men's team was not really easy, when in the last table, Bang Gia Huy (2.425) held the black pieces, quickly drawing with Niaz Murshed (2.318). In the remaining two tables, Le Tuan Minh (2.564) and Tran Tuan Minh (2.434) both had moments of weakness, but both took advantage of their opponents' mistakes to win.

The match between Le Tuan Minh and Reja Neer Manon (2,417) lasted about five hours, with the Vietnamese representative losing most of the opening and middle game. However, the 28-year-old player found a simple combination to gain a quality advantage, dominating the endgame.

At the end of the game, if Manon continued to play, Le Tuan Minh would have to demonstrate his checkmate technique with the bishop and knight. This was an interesting but not simple exercise for amateur players, but easy for a Grandmaster. Therefore, the Bangladeshi player gave up without testing Le Tuan Minh's technique.

In the Women's category, Pham Le Thao Nguyen (2,380) also competed and won against Trisha Kanyamarala (2,179). Luong Phuong Hanh (2,225) and Le Thanh Tu (2,092) also won against opponents with Elo ratings below 2,000, while Bach Ngoc Thuy Duong (2,214) was held to a draw by Diana Mirza (1,962). In the end, the women's team won against Ireland 3.5-0.5.

The biggest surprise in the second round was the Norwegian men's team being held to a draw by Canada, as number one Magnus Carlsen retired. Chess champion Dinh Lap Nhan was also held to a draw, dropping one place to 16th in the world, while Quang Liem remained at 14th.

Round three will take place from 8pm today, Friday, September 13, when the Vietnamese men's team will face Kazakhstan, while the women's team will face Singapore. Both teams are rated higher than their opponents, so the team is expected to maintain their winning streak.

The 2024 Chess Olympiad will take place in Budapest, Hungary from September 10 to September 23, marking the 100th anniversary of the tournament. There will be 196 teams in the Open Division, while 183 teams will be in the Women's Division. Each team will send five players, with each match playing pairs on four boards.

The teams will play 11 standard rounds of chess, scoring points to choose the champion. Each win is worth two points, a draw is one point and a loss is zero points. The team's position at the Olympiad is calculated based on the total order of the men's and women's teams. Vietnam's best result was 10th in 2018. This year, the men's team is seeded 21st, while the women's team is seeded 20th.