"Sweet fruit"... chess - Quang Binh Electronic Newspaper

(QBĐT) - To create more useful playgrounds, many chess clubs have been established, attracting students to participate. These chess clubs have become the "support" for talented players to reap many "sweet fruits" in tournaments.

Nurturing young players

Chess has long been an interesting playground for many students in the province. Currently, the province has 12 chess clubs established, including 7 clubs outside schools and 5 clubs inside schools. Each club usually has 15-30 members. In addition, schools have hundreds of students who are proficient in chess, participating in school-level competitions and participating in clubs to improve their skills.

Dong Hoi City currently has 9 chess clubs, attracting hundreds of children to practice. Dong Hoi Chess Club is known by many people as a place that has been spreading the passion for chess to many children. The club was established in 2018 and by 2019 it had become an official member of the Vietnam Chess Federation. The club has 3 facilities with 120 members.

Vice President of Dong Hoi Chess Club Tran Trung Kien said: “The club’s players are mainly primary and secondary school students. Every week, the club organizes activities twice a week on Saturdays and Sundays. When it comes to competitions, the facilities increase the practice time so that the students can compete better.”

Children in Minh Hoa district are practicing chess.

Tran Bao Hoang, a 3A student at Chu Van An Primary School (Dong Hoi City), a member of the Dong Hoi Chess Club, confided: “Every time I come to the club, the teachers teach me interesting and new moves. This sport has helped me practice concentration, concrete thinking, stimulate my imagination, evaluate and analyze situations in life and study. Since playing chess, I have made new friends with the same passion and interests...”.

In 2024, Minh Hoa Chess Club was established by Dinh Duy Khanh, a Physical Education teacher at Hoa Hop Primary School. “At first, I only opened a group of students from grades 1-5 to come to my house to teach for free on days off during the summer vacation. But then many students registered to study, so I had to establish a club to teach systematically. After a while, the students have made rapid progress and achieved encouraging results. At the end of February, Minh Hoa district's chess team won a bronze medal at the chess and Chinese chess tournament of the 10th Provincial Sports Festival (2025-2026) in the team event for under 11 years old,” Mr. Khanh happily shared.

Up to now, Minh Hoa Chess Club has more than 30 members. After a period of practice, many students have shown their talent for this intellectual sport. Tran Anh Khoi, a 5D student at Quy Dat Town Primary School, confided: “Chess has helped me to think more, increase concentration, avoid distractions, and reduce the time spent watching TV and using the phone. Playing chess also helps me observe better and be responsible for myself when making decisions. Since learning chess, my academic results at school have also improved, especially in Math and English.”

Youth chess mark

Compared to other localities, chess in Quang Binh is almost “born later”, and lacks professional investment. Funding for organizing tournaments, sending coaches and athletes to train and compete also faces many difficulties. However, with the determination of the province, clubs and the passion and tireless efforts of athletes, along with the active support of parents, Quang Binh chess has achieved many successes, especially in youth tournaments.

Chess tournaments in the province are an opportunity for players to compete, exchange and learn from each other.

Notably, at the 2024 National Youth Chess Championship, our province's players won 1 silver medal and 1 bronze medal; participating in the 20th Central Youth Chess and Chinese Chess Tournament in Da Nang, the Quang Binh delegation won 7 gold medals, 14 silver medals and 23 bronze medals, ranking 3rd out of 26 delegations; in October 2024, the Quang Binh provincial chess team participated in the 4th Central and Central Highlands Youth Chess Tournament in Binh Dinh and won 7 gold medals, 10 silver medals and 17 bronze medals, ranking 6th out of 22 participating delegations.

Recently, in February 2025, the Quang Binh delegation with more than 60 athletes participated in the 21st Central Youth Open Chess Tournament held in Thanh Hoa province. With the joint efforts, the provincial delegation won 56 medals of all kinds, including: 5 gold medals, 15 silver medals, 36 bronze medals, ranked 3rd out of 34 total delegations. In particular, the strong development of the chess movement has brought out many promising young faces.

Notably, male chess player Dang Ha Thai Son (6 years old), a student at Nam Ly Primary School No. 1 (Dong Hoi City), has just won 1 gold medal and 2 silver medals at the 21st Central Region Open Youth Chess Tournament. “Participating in the tournament, I had to face many older opponents who were professionally trained. But when entering the matches, I always focused highly, thought carefully before making decisions, so I won the games and the next game too!”, Thai Son excitedly said.

Mr. Le Thanh Minh, in charge of the chess department of the provincial Sports Training and Competition Center, said: “Every time they participate in a regional or national tournament, Quang Binh athletes suffer many disadvantages. Because they have to compete with talented, professional athletes. Some delegations even hire athletes from other places to compete to improve their performance. Despite difficulties and pressure, Quang Binh athletes always show determination and courage to achieve high results in tournaments. Hopefully, the success of recent tournaments will be a foundation for players to be confident and courageous, continuing to achieve many high results in all arenas in the future.”

“To develop chess, the province needs to focus on developing the movement from schools and training high-performance athletes. In particular, schools need to pay attention to including chess in the curriculum and organizing annual tournaments. From there, select talented children and bring them to the club for further training to create a source of athletes. The Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism needs to advise the province to pay attention and have a suitable regime for high-performance athletes. In addition, strengthen socialization to help athletes practice and compete in regional and national tournaments,” Mr. Le Thanh Minh emphasized.

Spring King

Source: https://www.baoquangbinh.vn/the-thao/202503/qua-ngot-co-vua-2224974/