Vietnam wins individual gold at Asian Weiqi Open Championship

Vietnam’s Weiqi team saw positive results at the recent inaugural Asian Weiqi Open Championship 2015 – Fulda Cup in Ipoh, Malaysia, securing top two places in the individual event and finishing second in the team category of the Southeast Asian section.

The Vietnam’s Weiqi team at the 1st Asian Open Championship 2015
The Vietnam’s Weiqi team at the 1st Asian Open Championship 2015

Do Khanh Binh (five Dan) – the third-place finisher at the 2015 National Weiqi Championship – claimed the overall title in the men’s individual discipline with four points, while his teammate Hoang Vinh Hoa (four Dan) brought home a silver medal for Vietnam in the same category.

The two individual medals secured Vietnam the team silver medal of the Southeast Asian region, behind hosts Malaysia. The team bronze medal went to Singapore.

Chinese Taipei were crowned team champions of the advanced section (including non-Southeast Asian powerhouses in Weiqi) with a strong lineup of three seven-Dan masters, followed by China and the Republic of Korea.

The first Asian Open competition featured 12 teams of three players from 11 countries across Asia including Japan, China, the Republic of Korea, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong (China), Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia (two teams).

The tournament was played according to the six-round Swiss system with 60 minutes for each competitor. Based on the aggregate results, the organising board announced the prizes for the Asian, Southeast Asian and the Kyu-level sections.

The Vietnamese team, coached by Hoang Nam Thang, were represented by Do Khanh Binh (five Dan), Hoang Vinh Hoa (four Dan) and Nguyen Vo Duong (four Dan).

Weiqi (also known as Go), a type of Chinese chess, originated in China 3,000 years ago but was subsequently popularised by the Japanese. The game then spread to Korea and again, returned to China, making these three countries the strongest players in the game.

Like chess, playing Weiqi comes with many benefits including increasing one’s intellect, patience, observation and interpersonal skills.