Vietnam's chess team has set a goal of winning at least three gold medals at the 26th Southeast Asia Games this month.
Vietnam will send a team of 12 players (including five females), three coaches, and one official.
They will compete in nine events: blitz chess, men's and women's lightning chess, standard chess, men's and women's blindfold chess, standard men's and women's duo chess and Southeast Asian chess.
"The team is assigned the task of winning three gold medals but players will do their best to surpass the goal," Lam Minh Chau, coach of the team, said.
The male players are Le Quang Liem, Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, Dao Thien Hai, Nguyen Anh Dung, Nguyen Huynh Minh Huy, Cao Sang and Nguyen Van Huy, while female players are Nguyen Thi Thanh An, Pham Le Thao Nguyen, Hoang Bao Tram, Hoang Thi Nhu Y and Nguyen Thi Mai Hung.
Chau said Vietnam will be able to win a gold medal at all events except for ASEAN chess (a combination of Myanmar, Thai and Cambodian chess styles), but also said that there are factors that can affect the results.
Among them, Liem and Son are in good form and will be major factors for gold medals.
Liem, world No 28, has just won the SPICE CUP, a top chess tournament in the US , while Son moved 23 spots to rank 83 in the world rankings after good performances at the World Chess Cup and Qin Huangdao.
Vietnam set a record at the chess competition at the 23th SEA Games in 2005 in the Philippines , winning a gold medal at all eight events.
Son won two gold medals in individual events and two gold medals in team events.
Chess was not organised at the 24th SEA Games in 2007 in Thailand and the 25th SEA Games in 2009 in Laos .
Due to the competition schedule, the team will go to Indonesia on November 9 and 14./.
Vietnam will send a team of 12 players (including five females), three coaches, and one official.
They will compete in nine events: blitz chess, men's and women's lightning chess, standard chess, men's and women's blindfold chess, standard men's and women's duo chess and Southeast Asian chess.
"The team is assigned the task of winning three gold medals but players will do their best to surpass the goal," Lam Minh Chau, coach of the team, said.
The male players are Le Quang Liem, Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, Dao Thien Hai, Nguyen Anh Dung, Nguyen Huynh Minh Huy, Cao Sang and Nguyen Van Huy, while female players are Nguyen Thi Thanh An, Pham Le Thao Nguyen, Hoang Bao Tram, Hoang Thi Nhu Y and Nguyen Thi Mai Hung.
Chau said Vietnam will be able to win a gold medal at all events except for ASEAN chess (a combination of Myanmar, Thai and Cambodian chess styles), but also said that there are factors that can affect the results.
Among them, Liem and Son are in good form and will be major factors for gold medals.
Liem, world No 28, has just won the SPICE CUP, a top chess tournament in the US , while Son moved 23 spots to rank 83 in the world rankings after good performances at the World Chess Cup and Qin Huangdao.
Vietnam set a record at the chess competition at the 23th SEA Games in 2005 in the Philippines , winning a gold medal at all eight events.
Son won two gold medals in individual events and two gold medals in team events.
Chess was not organised at the 24th SEA Games in 2007 in Thailand and the 25th SEA Games in 2009 in Laos .
Due to the competition schedule, the team will go to Indonesia on November 9 and 14./.
