Chess Family
"Surfing" a round of the list of players registered to participate in the KPNest chess tournament, chess fans can easily recognize an interesting detail when a family of 4 people registered to participate. That is the family of the famous coach and player couple Tong Thai Hung - Nguyen Thi Thanh An.
Coach Tong Thai Hung (middle) teaches chess to his son.
Construction engineer Tong Thai Hung, born in 1968, won second prize in the Ho Chi Minh City Chess Championship in 1994 and 1995, then became a coach with his "favorite" student Nguyen Thi Thanh An. The two became husband and wife, and since then Thanh An has had a powerful assistant when practicing chess and has flourished in his career with many achievements domestically and internationally, and has spent a long time playing for the Vietnam chess team. Currently, Thanh An both competes and coaches the Ho Chi Minh City Chess Championship, including his two daughters, Tong Thai Ky An (16 years old) and Tong Thai Hoang An (12 years old).
Nguyen Thi Thanh An has more than 20 years of dedication to Vietnamese chess, currently both competing and coaching.
Inheriting the chess "gene" from their parents, the two daughters of coach Tong Thai Hung - Nguyen Thi Thanh An soon achieved success in youth tournaments. Ky An won an individual bronze medal, a team gold medal at the U.20 Southeast Asia tournament. Hoang An was even more outstanding when he won a silver medal at the U.8 blitz chess world youth tournament in 2019, a silver medal at the U.12 blitz chess world youth tournament in 2023, a gold medal at the U.8 standard chess Asian youth tournament, 6 gold medals (3 individual gold medals, 3 team gold medals) at the U.12 Southeast Asia youth tournament...
Pressured by fear of being judged for being a family man, playing chess... badly
Sharing about training her children to play chess, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh An said that the most convenient thing is the closeness, so when eating, we also talk about chess, when going to bed, we also talk about chess, when going out, we can also practice chess together, thereby providing chess knowledge to the children naturally through conversations.
Tong Thai Hoang An is reaping success in international youth tournaments.
"In terms of training, each child has their own qualities, so I try to develop their abilities and interests without forcing them. For example, if the older child only likes to play chess, I encourage them to play a lot and then correct them. If the younger child likes to play a variety of games, I let them try all the opening moves so they can choose. Coach Tong Thai Hung is responsible for preparing documents, analyzing and teaching chess to the children, while Thanh An plays the role of the green team to compete and test their abilities," said Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh An.
Ms. Thanh An frankly shared the difficulties when parents play the role of coaches for their children, making it easy for children to rely on their knowledge, not willing to absorb and think deeply. Teaching children at home without studying in groups also lacks competition. When practicing chess with children, seeing that they are tired, they let them rest but do not have the heart to force them, so there is no constraint on practice time. In addition, there is the invisible pressure of achievement, fearing that everyone will think that the child is a coach, a family tradition but plays chess poorly.
The whole family of coach and chess player Tong Thai Hung - Nguyen Thi Thanh An will compete in the KPNest 2024 chess tournament.
Eagerly waiting for the day to conquer the KPNest chess tournament
Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh An said that for the first time in Vietnam, there was a tournament taking place in the format of 15 blitz chess games. It was both fun and exciting, so the whole family was eager to try it out.
KPNest Chess Tournament opens registration until November 20
"My family has its own goals depending on each person's chess ability. It's a bit difficult to compete for achievements, but we try to increase our elo. In which, Tong Thai Hung competes in the open event, having fun competing for lucky draw tickets because this event has many strong players such as Le Quang Liem, Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, Le Tuan Minh... Ky An strives to be in the top 6 of the U.16 female age group. Hoang An has the ability to compete for a medal in the U.12 female age group, but at this stage, she is focusing on the standard chess event at the world youth tournament when she returned home from the tournament in Italy one day before the tournament. I also set a goal of being in the top 10 of the female group because I am not good at blitz chess," Nguyen Thi Thanh An confided.
KPNest Chess Tournament is organized by KPNest Bird's Nest Development Joint Stock Company in collaboration with Ho Chi Minh City Chess Federation on December 1, 2024 at The Adora Center Convention Center (431 Hoang Van Thu, Ward 4, Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City) .
The tournament is divided into 12 groups, including 6 groups for men and 6 groups for women. In each group, players compete in 15 games scored according to the Swiss system, 3+2 blitz chess format (3 minutes for each player, plus 2 seconds after each move).
The total prize value is up to nearly 2 billion VND, in which the champion of each group receives 50 million VND, second place 20 million VND, third place 10 million VND.
Players register to participate in the tournament at: http://giaicovua.kpnest.com.vn. Registration deadline is November 20, 2024.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/hiem-co-ca-gia-dinh-4-nguoi-cung-tranh-tai-giai-co-vua-kpnest-185241020052810669.htm
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