Who is Lai Ly Huynh, the Vietnamese chess player who broke China's monopoly?

Before winning the individual standard chess championship of the 2025 World Chinese Chess Championship in Shanghai (China), Lai Ly Huynh was already the number 1 player in Vietnam, winning many different big and small titles.

Lai Ly Huynh quenched his thirst for individual gold medals

Lai Ly Huynh was born in 1990 and first participated in the world chess tournament in 2019, when he was only 19 years old. At that time, despite being immature, the player from Vinh Long won 7th place overall. In 2015 and 2019, he and his teammates won bronze medals. 3 years later, the medal color was changed to gold.

Chess player Lai Ly Huynh on the podium receiving the medal

4 times participating in the world tournament, 3 times winning medals, that is a very impressive achievement for a Vietnamese chess player. However, Lai Ly Huynh still cannot touch the gold medal in individual standard chess, the title that many people desire.

In a spectacular comeback, Lai Ly Huynh won the world chess championship in China.

The biggest opportunity came in 2023. This tournament marked the successful return of Lai Li Huynh, when he successfully defended the world championship in rapid chess, even defeating Meng Shen, China's top player. However, in the prestigious standard chess event, Lai Li Huynh once again missed the championship when he lost to Meng Shen in the final match.

Lai Ly Huynh's thirst was finally quenched in 2025. The Vietnamese chess player brilliantly defeated Doan Thang, a Chinese chess prodigy, in a standard game to win the championship despite the disadvantage of holding the black pieces (going later). This is the first time in history that Lai Ly Huynh has brought Vietnamese chess the championship title in the standard chess event, which is also the most prestigious event of the game that China has dominated up to now.

Lai Ly Huynh's achievements at the 2025 World Championship

In this tournament, young chess player Minh Hang (yellow shirt) also brought home a bronze medal for Vietnamese chess U.12 women.

Photo: Organizing Committee

Contemporary legend of Vietnamese chess, with extraordinary memory

Lai Ly Huynh is considered one of the most talented and comprehensive chess players in the history of Vietnamese chess. He is even considered number 1. He won the national championship (standard chess) 6 times (2013, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2021), along with a series of championships in rapid chess and blitz chess. He has always maintained a top form for many years.

In the regional arena, Lai Ly Huynh is the only player in Southeast Asia to win two individual and team gold medals at two different SEA Games: the men's rapid chess team gold medal at SEA Games 31 and the men's standard chess individual gold medal at SEA Games 32.

Lai Ly Huynh (yellow shirt) deservedly won the world championship.

Photo: Organizing Committee

Lai Ly Huynh (left) and Nguyen Thanh Bao won silver medal in men's team

Lai Ly Huynh is considered a rare all-rounder. He possesses a solid, resilient style of play in standard chess, but is also full of speed, versatility and sharpness in rapid chess and blitz chess. He once demonstrated his amazing ability to memorize and analyze in a TV program about memory in 2022.

At that time, Lai Ly Huynh successfully conquered an unprecedented challenge: remembering 100 different chess positions within 10 minutes. He determined the position to change a move on three randomly selected chess boards. Next, at a more difficult level, Lai Ly Huynh used his ability to play imaginary chess and super memory to recover 3/5 of the chess board just by listening to the referee read 8 impromptu moves on each board. This challenge was considered more difficult than playing chess with 10 people at the same time with your eyes closed, but Lai Ly Huynh still conquered it successfully. His natural qualities, combined with his efforts and hard work, helped Lai Ly Huynh be awarded the title of International Grandmaster, standing among the best players in the history of Vietnamese chess.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/lai-ly-huynh-ky-thu-viet-nam-pha-vo-the-doc-ton-cua-trung-quoc-la-ai-185250927165617833.htm