Vietnamese chess scores dual win at ASEAN Championships

Vietnam demonstrated absolute domination at the 2015 ASEAN Chess Championships, which concluded in Jakarta, Indonesia on December 30, with Nguyen Anh Khoi and Nguyen Thi Mai Hung being respectively crowned the overall winners of the men’s and women’s categories.

Vietnam's chess prodigy Nguyen Anh Khoi
Vietnam's chess prodigy Nguyen Anh Khoi

The ten-day third annual event featured 12 male and 12 female chess masters from Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, competing for the Open (men’s) and women’s crowns according to the 11-round Swiss system.

Despite the absence of two top players, Le Quang Liem and Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, Vietnam still overwhelmed the Open division owing to an extraordinary performance by former world U-10 champion Nguyen Anh Khoi.

Khoi, modestly rated 2368, scored an amazing win over top seed Megaranto Susanto of Indonesia (Elo 2554) in the last round of play on Wednesday, thereby claiming the overall top spot with seven points to the surprise of those in attendance.

Khoi’s teammate Dao Thien Hai (Elo 2477) and the Philippines’ Garcia Jan Emmanuel (Elo 2410) ended up in second and third place respectively with seven points, behind Khoi due to the sub-indexes.

On the women’s side, no. 3 seed Nguyen Thi Mai Hung (Elo 2249) was convincing in her aggregate victory earning nine points after an 11-game unbeaten run with seven wins and four draws. Top seed Frayna Janelle Mae of the Philippines (Elo 2272) came in second with eight points.