Which Chinese chess kings did Lai Ly Huynh defeat?

The victory over Doan Thang brought Lai Ly Huynh the 2025 World Chess Championship. But looking at the entire career of the famous Vietnamese chess player, Doan Thang is not the strongest opponent he has ever defeated.

Doan Thang (right), Lai Ly Huynh's recent loser, is not yet a chess king - Photo: XQ

The chess world is sometimes compared to the martial arts world of Kim Dung's novels. And because of that, the biggest and most famous titles are sometimes not as memorable as a "fight" with a great person.

According to data from the Chinese chess website GdChess, along with several other sources, Lai Ly Huynh once had the opportunity to "learn" the skills of 11 chess masters in the Chinese chess world.

"King of Chess" is the title given to those who have won the Chinese chess championship, meaning they have been at the top of the chess world at least once.

Of the 11 chess kings Lai Ly Huynh has competed against, he has defeated at least 6 masters at least once, including: Hong Tri, Lu Kham, Trieu Quoc Vinh, Ton Dung Chinh, Vu Au Hoa and Ta Tinh.

Among these, the most memorable achievement was when Lai Ly Huynh defeated Hong Tri at the 2023 Chinese Team Chess Championship (Jiangjian Lien Tai).

This legendary match showed Lai with an active opening move, gradually shifting to a focused attack and skillfully putting Hong Tri in a deadlocked position in the endgame before "checkmating" his opponent.

Vietnamese media and Chinese chess stores both noted this as one of the matches that changed Lai Ly Huynh's career, bringing him from the ranks of "experts" to the same level as China's special group of grandmasters.

Hong Tri: "The King of Chaos", the peak and the scandal

Hong Tri was born in 1980 in Wuhan, Hubei, and is one of the outstanding grandmasters of Chinese chess.

He is known by the evocative nickname “Loạn Chiến Vương”, describing his versatile and fierce attacking style, which often puts opponents into complicated and confusing situations.

Lai Ly Huynh when he defeated Hong Tri in 2023 - Photo: XQ

Hong Tri reached the peak of his career when he won the national championship in 2005 and became a mainstay in many provincial teams, while also having many achievements in continental tournaments and intellectual sports festivals.

However, his name also appeared in a series of investigations related to the match-fixing scandal that was exposed in 2023. Because of this scandal, Hong Tri was banned from competing for a long time.

Before defeating Hong Tri in 2023, Lai Ly Huynh had lost 3 times to this famous chess king.

Lu Kham: fast horse flying knife, legend of chess village

Lu Kham, born in 1962, from Guangdong, belongs to the previous generation in the Chinese chess village.

He is known by the nickname "Fast horse flying knife", with a fast, sharp fighting style like a "flying knife", famous for his decisive attacking style, flexible opening and accurate counterattacks.

Lu Kham is famous for his fast fighting style - Photo: CN

With 5 times Chinese chess champion as well as 5 times world champion, Lu Kham is considered a legend in the chess world.

Lai Ly Huynh defeated Lu Kham in the 2023 Inter-level Giap tournament. At this point, the Chinese chess legend is over 60 years old, so losing to a player at the peak of his form and young, clear-headed like Lai Ly Huynh is understandable.

Trieu Quoc Vinh: the tiger of the North

Zhao Guorong was born in 1961 and is a rare chess king born in Northern China. He is from Harbin and grew up in the cold Heilongjiang region all year round.

Trieu Quoc Vinh is known by the nickname “Northeast Tiger” thanks to his pragmatic, steady style and especially strong endgame. Trieu has a long record of achievements in national tournaments and is an influential factor in the Northern style of play.

Trieu Quoc Vinh is a rare representative of a northerner in the Chinese chess village - Photo: PA

Similar to Lu Kham, when Trieu Quoc Vinh faced Lai Ly Huynh in the 2020s, he was over 60 years old and had significantly declined in form.

In 6 matches, Lai Ly Huynh drew 4, won 2, and has never lost to "Dong Bac Ho". The last time Lai Ly Huynh beat Quoc Vinh was also in the 2023 Giap-level inter-registration tournament.

Ton Dung Chinh: "White Cat" of the South

Born in 1981 in Shanghai, Ton Dung Chinh is a typical representative of the southern Chinese chess village, nicknamed "White Cat".

Dung Chinh's father was also a chess grandmaster, holding many positions in Chinese chess associations, so from a young age he pursued a chess career.

Interestingly, although he was considered a chess prodigy, continuously winning international tournaments since the age of 20, Ton Dung Chinh had to wait until he was 30 years old to win the Chinese championship, become a chess king and be awarded the title of Special Grandmaster.

Ton Dung Chinh has competed with Lai Ly Huynh 4 times, in which the Vietnamese player won once in 2017 - when his opponent was still at the peak of his form.

Vu Au Hoa: Hero of Liangshan Marsh

Vu Au Hoa was born in 1960 in Zhejiang, is the oldest chess king that Lai Ly Huynh has ever defeated. He is also a chess master associated with many funny and sad anecdotes.

Vu Au Hoa has a rather eccentric personality, is addicted to smoking and has an erratic performance. Once, when facing the opportunity to win a prestigious tournament, Vu Au Hoa was so engrossed in smoking that he forgot to press the timer, leading to an unfair defeat.

The strange man Vu Au Hoa - Photo: XQ

Also because of his unique style, Vu developed his career very late, not becoming a "chess king" until he was 40 years old.

Because of his difficult life and reckless fighting style, he was given the nickname "Phan Menh Tam Lang", which is also the nickname of the character Thach Tu, one of the 108 heroes of Liangshan Marsh in the novel Thuy Hu .

In the 2023 Inter-level Giap tournament, Lai Ly Huynh defeated Vu Au Hoa twice. But this was also an understandable result because Vu was too old at this time.

Ta Tinh: next generation, modern technology

Xie Jing, born in 1989, from Jiangsu, is a product of China's professional training system, was a national champion and was awarded the title of Grandmaster.

Xie's playing style balances systematic defense and sharp counterattacks - characteristics of young Chinese players.

Xie Jing is also famous as the true disciple of Hu Ronghua, a legend in Chinese chess. Because he shone at such a young age, Xie Jing was nicknamed "Little Giant".

Lai Ly Huynh defeated Ta Tinh in the 2016 Han Tin tournament, a memorable victory by two players of similar age.

HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/lai-ly-huynh-tung-da-bai-nhung-ky-vuong-nao-cua-co-tuong-trung-quoc-20251012221308606.htm