After nine rapid chess rounds concluding this morning, 15/11, Le Tuan Minh accumulated 8 points from seven wins and two draws, remaining undefeated. He faced four Grandmasters in the tournament, defeating Susanto Megaranto (Indonesia) and Dai Thuong Nhan (China), and drawing with Tin Jingyao (Singapore) and Novendra Priasmoro (Indonesia). Tuan Minh's performance rating reached 2,617, adding 16,6 rapid chess Elo points to his rating.

Megaranto secured the silver medal with 7,5 points, while Tin took the bronze with 7 points.

Tuan Minh will continue to compete in 11 blitz chess games this afternoon. His initial blitz chess Elo rating is 2,582, making him the second seed after Megaranto (2,587).

Le Tuan Minh with his individual bronze medal on board three at the Open section of the Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary, on the evening of 22/9/2024. Photo: FIDE

Le Tuan Minh with his individual bronze medal on board three at the Open section of the Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary, on the evening of 22/9/2024. Photo: FIDE

Unlike the concurrently held xiangqi event, the chess tournament saw many top players absent due to a scheduling conflict with the Chess World Cup. Consequently, leading Asian players like Gukesh Dommaraju, Le Quang Liem, Wei Yi, and Yu Yangyi did not participate. As this was the first edition of the Games, it also did not attract other strong players such as Ding Liren.

Tuan Minh was Vietnam's sole representative at the tournament. With an initial rapid chess Elo of 2,499, he was the third seed, trailing Megaranto (2,534) and Tin (2,504). However, Tuan Minh's actual strength is higher, as he primarily competes in online rapid and blitz chess, while Elo ratings are typically calculated from over-the-board tournaments.

At 29 years old, Le Tuan Minh emerged as a new hope for Vietnamese chess at the 2024 Olympiad. Making his debut at the age of 28, he surprised many by remaining undefeated across all 11 games, defeating two Super Grandmasters, and securing an individual bronze medal on board three with a performance rating of 2,795, a level of play equivalent to the world's top 5.

The first Asian Intellectual Games 2025 took place in Singapore from 13/11 to 15/11, featuring five competitive sports: xiangqi, chess, go, bridge, and speedcubing.

In the chess event, athletes competed in two disciplines: rapid chess with a time control of 15 minutes plus 10 seconds per move (15+10), and blitz chess with 5 minutes plus 3 seconds (5+3). Each discipline consisted of nine rounds played under the Swiss system, with total points determining the champion. In case of a tie in points, rankings were decided by head-to-head results, followed by other tie-breaking criteria.

Xuan Binh