Lai Ly Huynh: The man who made Vietnamese chess famous

Lai Ly Huynh is the world champion of Vietnamese chess. Photo: MINH THANG

At the age of 35, Lai Ly Huynh has won the three most valuable titles in his career as a chess player: world standard individual chess champion, world standard team chess champion and world rapid chess champion.

In 2022, experts were surprised when Lai Ly Huynh and Nguyen Thanh Bao won the standard chess team event when the two participated in the world chess tournament held in Malaysia. At that time, experts said that the gold medal in the team event was a very encouraging result. However, Lai Ly Huynh himself still had one thing in mind: to win the standard chess individual championship.

The Vietnamese chess community in particular and the world in general always consider the individual gold medal in standard chess at the world championship to be the most meaningful in terms of expertise.

In the last two times participating in the world chess tournament (2022, 2023), Lai Ly Huynh has not been successful in the individual standard chess event. In 2022 in Malaysia, Ly Huynh ranked 4th in the individual. In 2023 in the US, Ly Huynh finished second after losing to Manh Than (China) in the final match.

However, at the 2025 World Championship, Lai Ly Huynh did not let the opportunity be missed. Looking at the overall situation of this year's tournament, the victory was completely deserved. "We do not know what to say, Ly Huynh played excellently, bringing glory to Vietnamese chess. A historic victory, breaking the monopoly of Chinese players in the men's individual standard chess event", said the leader of the Vietnamese chess team at the tournament - Mr. Nguyen Minh Thang.

In the 3 world championships 2022, 2023, 2025, Lai Ly Huynh had his moments of sublimation with each medal. But clearly, the gold medal in the world championship in the individual standard chess event is an achievement that many veteran Vietnamese players had hoped for but had not succeeded.

Vietnam chess team at the 2025 world championship. Photo: MINH THANG

Known as the “Au Duong prince” of the Vietnamese chess world, Lai Ly Huynh was born in the countryside of Vinh Long. With his love for chess, Lai Ly Huynh has competed in many tournaments and has become famous up to now. Before that, Lai Ly Huynh was a chess player of Binh Duong sports (old) and now Ho Chi Minh City.

Looking back to 2022, Lai Ly Huynh once said that his biggest regret was missing the gold medal at the 19th ASIAD. At that time, Ly Huynh only won a bronze medal in the individual event and a silver medal in the team event. The result may not have been the championship at the ASIAD, but Lai Ly Huynh was still worthy of being the top player who brought glory to Vietnamese chess.