The 12-year-old player won the national excellent chess championship

Through nine games, Khuong Duy won 7 points from six wins, two draws, and one loss. His important victory came in the penultimate game, despite playing black against second seed Pham Tran Gia Phuc.

In the end, Khuong Duy was half a point ahead of the three players behind, Tran Tuan Minh, Pham Chuong and Hoang Canh Huan.

The tournament had three Grandmasters participating but their achievements were not high. In addition to Tuan Minh finishing second, Nguyen Van Huy ranked seventh and Nguyen Duc Hoa ranked two places behind. Khuong Duy is the new Reserve Grandmaster, with the eighth highest standard chess Elo at the tournament. Another young player with a high position is Dinh Nho Kiet, 13 years old, ranked sixth overall.

According to the tournament rules, all games are counted as Elo. Khuong Duy accumulated 14 coefficient points, to return to the 2,300 group. Nho Kiet also earned an additional 36 Elo, approaching the 2,300 mark. The two young players improved significantly compared to last year's tournament, when they ranked 23rd and 24th, respectively.

In the women's group, 20-year-old player Bach Ngoc Thuy Duong won the championship with 6.5 points. She has the same score as Nguyen Thi Mai Hung, but has better match scores. However, Thuy Duong's performance is only equivalent to a player with Elo 2,191, lower than her real coefficient of 2,228. But this is also the first time Thuy Duong has won standard chess at a national tournament.

National Excellent Chess Award, selects players with high achievements from the national chess tournament, to compete in events including standard chess, rapid chess, blitz chess and ASEAN chess. This year's tournament takes place in Ha Tien, Kien Giang from September 9 to September 19, an opportunity for players to practice and prepare to attend the Asiad in Hangzhou, China.