Truong Son shines, Vietnamese chess unexpectedly defeats defending champion Uzbekistan at Olympiad

Defending champion Uzbekistan brings to the 2024 Olympiad a young and talented squad, with the main player being the world's 6th ranked player Abdusattorov Nodirbek (elo 2,766). The average Elo of the Uzbekistan team is 2,690 while the average Elo of the Vietnamese men's chess team is 2,593. Before the encounter in game 4, both Uzbekistan and the Vietnamese team showed their ability against opponents with lower Elo.

Le Quang Liem held world No. 6 ranked player Abdusattorov Nodirbek to a draw in Vietnam's 3-1 victory over Uzbekistan.

In the match against the strong candidate for the championship that took place late on September 14, the Vietnamese men's chess team deployed its strongest lineup when main player Le Quang Liem (elo 2,741) played against Abdusattorov Nodirbek at table 1, Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son (elo 2,633) met Yakubboev Nodirbek (elo 2,666), Le Tuan Minh (elo 2,564) faced Sindarov Javokhir (elo 2,677) at table 3 and Tran Tuan Minh (elo 2,434) faced Vakhidov Jakhongir (elo 2,571) at table 4.

Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son (second from right) won an impressive victory.

Le Tuan Minh motivated his teammates when he defeated a stronger opponent on table 4 after a beautiful knight sacrifice that forced Sindarov Javokhir to shake hands and admit defeat. On table 2, Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, despite being at a disadvantage of holding the black pieces (going later), still played explosively against Yakubboev Nodirbek. Truong Son calmly deployed his game plan while his opponent was impatient and made mistakes, and the player from Kien Giang successfully took advantage of it. On the remaining 2 tables, Le Quang Liem and Tran Tuan Minh held their opponents to a draw, thereby helping the Vietnamese men's chess team win 3-1 against Uzbekistan.

Vietnam chess team unexpectedly defeated defending champion Uzbekistan

In addition to the unexpected victory of the Vietnamese men's chess team over the defending champion Uzbekistan, there was another surprise in game 4 when the US team, with the highest average elo in the tournament, lost to Ukraine. After 4 games, 8 teams won all, including the Vietnamese chess team. Le Quang Liem and his teammates are temporarily ranked 4th on the overall rankings and will face the Polish team in game 5.

Olympiad rankings after 4 games, Vietnam chess team won all and temporarily ranked 4th

In the women's team event, the Vietnamese team with Pham Le Thao Nguyen, Vo Thi Kim Phung, Luong Phuong Hanh, and Le Thanh Tu lost 1-3 to Armenia. Thao Nguyen and Kim Phung shared points with their opponents in tables 1 and 2, but Phuong Hanh and Thanh Tu lost in tables 3 and 4, so the Vietnamese women's chess team accepted defeat. After this defeat, the Vietnamese women's chess team ranked 16th and faced Montenegro in game 5.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/truong-son-toa-sang-co-vua-viet-nam-bat-ngo-danh-bai-dkvd-uzbekistan-o-olympiad-185240915041851817.htm