Vietnam to host three international chess tournaments this year

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

Some nice chess news from Hanoi. Vietnam will host three international chess tournaments this year, including the HDBank Cup Open Chess Tournament in March, the Asian Continental Chess Championships in May, and the ASEAN and Age Groups Chess Championships in June, according to Vietnam Government officials. 

The HDBank Cup Open Chess Tournament will be held in southern Ho Chi Minh City, where winners are set to walk away with a bonus of 30,000 U.S. dollars. In its first edition in 2011, Nguyen Thi Mai Hung of Vietnam won the women's title, while Yu Yangyi of China bagged the men's title.

The Asian Continental Chess Championships is seen as part of the qualifiers for the 2013 World Cup, where winners will receive an official ticket to the World Cup to be held in Norway from August 10 to September 5.

The ASEAN and Age Groups Chess Championships will be held in Hue city. Vietnam are the defending champions in the age group event with 51 gold, 21 silver and 30 bronze medals won in Indonesia in June last year. 

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Vietnamese schoolgirl supports her family with chess

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011

Hello everyone,

We find many touching stories relating to chess players' lives. Here is one from Vietnam.

Playing chess at the age of eight, Nhu Y has won more than 100 medals from local, regional and international competitions, including over 30 gold and silver medals from Southeast Asian chess events since 2003.

“Playing chess has helped me overcome difficulties in life. When I was a child, I was very fragile and cried very often. I used to be familiar with love and protection of my parents,” she said.

Nhu Y’s mother passed away when she was 8. Her father, a motorbike taxi driver, only earned enough to feed his two daughters, Nhu Y and her younger sister – Y Nhi.

Nhu Y studied playing chess with her teacher at primary school. She attended the chess tournament for kids of Hue city in the same year and didn’t win any prizes. She did not play chess for a year before practicing chess for five days to participate in Hue city’s chess tournament for kids and won the third prize. She was convened to Thua Thien – Hue province’s chess team in May 2002. Practicing for only three months, Nhu Y won three silver and one gold medal at the National Young Chess Championship 2002.

Ever since she has won several awards in Vietnam and abroad. Nhu Y is studying at the National Sports Training Center in HCM City.

“My hidden strength is my will to defeat my rivals to win bonuses to help my family,” Nhu Y said. Her father is very weak and he cannot work now. Nhu Y has become the mainstay of her family with her chess earnings.

Nhu Y said she is luckier than her friends of the same age because thanks to chess she has been able to travel to many countries in the world and make new friends. “Most of my chess friends wish to visit Vietnam. Some of them have come here through my introduction. I will try to learn English to better introduce Vietnam to my friends,” she said.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
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Also see her personal blog at
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Vietnam's chess festival held in Spring

Chess blog for latest news and trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011

Hi everyone,

This chess story is about the Spring festival held in Vietname. It's about the traditional form of chess played in the country. In the past most Vietnamese people were farmers whose farming depended completely on nature. This meant that they all had leisure time to attend many festivals during and after the Lunar New Year Festival (Tet). They included wrestling and chess contests.

The different kinds of chess

There are different types of chess (Co) that are popular among the players in Vietnam. Co Tuong (Chinese chess), Co Vua (king chess) and Co Vay (GO chess) are included in the country’s official tournaments.
In addition to these are Co Ngu Hanh (five basic elements chess), Co Caro (noughts and crosses), Co Chan Cho (dog-leg chess), Co Hum Lon (tiger and pig chess), Co Tam Giac (triangle chess) and Co Quan Su (military chess). However, Chinese chess is the most popular, particularly in the Spring tournament.

Chess masters

According to legend, De Thich was the Chess God. As a chess expert, he knew all secrets of the game and could turn every failure into a success. Now he is worshipped in a Hanoi pagoda named Chua Vua. Tournament festival is held there every year, which attracts a large number of players from all parts of the country. The names of winners for three consecutive years are engraved in a stone stele. It is also said that Truong Ba, a wordly man, was the chess rival of De Thich.

Another legend says that people from Bac Ninh province are best chess players. This is proved by vestiges on Lan Kha mountain in Tien Du district. There was a woodcutter named Vuong Chat from Sop village. After he reached the top of the mount, he saw two genies playing chess. Chat watched them until the handle of his axe was rotten. He must have been a good chess player to enjoy such a long game.

In the 17th century, chess master Vu Huyen from Duong An, Hai Duong province defeated his rival from the Ming dynasty in 30 moves.

It is agreed that a good chess player should carefully observe the chessboard to grasp the whole situation before making any move.

Chess festival culture

A chess tournament is often held in village festivals. Sometimes, it lasts a week. Co Boi is another variety of Chinese chess but the pawns are wooden boards with a handle and the chessboard is a squared plot of land. The player sits on a tower behind the king. He orders a member of the organising board to move the pawns. Before the game, all players have to pass a skill test.
In Co Nguoi or human chess, the ground is marked as a chessboard with men standing for red pieces and women standing for black pieces. These are controlled by the players in the rhythm of drumbeats.

Chess festival constitutes an interesting aspect of Vietnamese culture. It lasts until the fourth lunar month. Currently, chess tournaments are held on any occasion during the year.

You can read further here.

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$25,000 Open Chess Tournament in Ho Chi Minh City from Jan 3

Chess News and Chess Trivia Blog (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2010

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Hi Everyone,

Hectic activity has already begun worldwide on the chess calendar for 2011. In our tournament updates here is some news about an open chess festival in Vietnam.

The $25,000 HDBank Open in Vietnam will be organized from January 3 to 10 in the beautiful Ho Chi Minh City.

Under the name Saigon, it was the capital of the French colony of Cochinchina and later of the independent state of South Vietnam from 1955 to 1975. In 1976, Saigon merged with the surrounding Gia Định Province and was officially renamed Hồ Chí Minh City (although the name Sài Gòn—formally known as District 1—is still commonly used.)

The time control would be the usual Swiss System competition of 9 rounds with 90 minutes for the whole game and an addition of 30 seconds per move starting from move 1. The interesting part is that draw offers below 30 moves shall not be allowed.

The prize fund is a nice US$25,000 with the winner getting $6,000, second place receiving $4,000 and third place receiving $3,000. The list of prizes goes on to the 20th place apart from special prizes for women and those excelling in the under-12 and under-16 age-group categories.

Grandmasters who have ratings above 2550 and Women Grandmasters who have ratings above 2350 will be provided accommodation on a twin sharing basis for the duration of the tournament.

Players and accompanying persons will be picked up at the Tan Son Nhat airport, Ho Chi Minh City and taken to the hotel by the Organizing Committee.

Last date of entries is December 10, 2010. You can find more details at the Fide website here.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's

www.chessblog.com

Also see her personal blog at

www.chessqueen.com