World Champion Lai Li Huynh with Extraordinary Courage, Through the Chinese Lens

Lai Ly Huynh's world championship has broken the monopoly of Chinese chess for many years. Chinese media has had many articles about the dramatic match of the Vietnamese player. Below is a very profound article by Chinese author Huu Phuong Tuy posted on the Chinese Chess Fate page

The focus of the chess world is the final match of the men's category of the 19th World Chess Championship (held on September 27), where Chinese player Doan Thang faces Vietnamese player Lai Ly Huynh. In recent years, Doan Thang has achieved many impressive results, recently winning the championship at the 3rd World Rapid Chess Championship. Meanwhile, Lai Ly Huynh is known as the "number one overseas chess player", having created many earthquakes in the Chinese A-class team tournament, defeating a series of top Chinese players. He was also the runner-up of the previous World Championship.

Doan Thang has the advantage in the opening game.

In the final match, Doan Thang took the red pieces and went first, opening the game with the "first man shows the way" formation against the "pawn to put the cannon". Doan Thang's moves were quick, showing that he was very well prepared in terms of opening. In the 11th round, Doan Thang used the central cannon in coordination with the left wing rook to prepare to attack the opponent's bishop. This was a probing move and also a real test for Lai Ly Huynh. Faced with this formation, Lai Ly Huynh had to think for a long time, clearly he was not too familiar with this change.

Doan Thang took the red pieces first, dominating the opening game.

PHOTO: CMH

In that situation, Lai Ly Huynh only needed to move his chariot across to Route 5 and bring it to the center of the nine palaces to neutralize the attack. The move "chariot 1 bottle 5" seemed risky at first glance, but in fact it was very subtle. Of course, if not prepared in advance, it would be very difficult to detect this move right in the game. Indeed, Lai Ly Huynh did not choose the optimal response plan, instead he added a knight, a decision that put the game at a serious disadvantage. The opportunity thus fell into Doan Thang's hands.

Immediately after that, Doan Thang prepared to use cannons to hit the elephants, accepting to sacrifice soldiers to take the initiative to counterattack. Before taking action, he entered a long period of contemplation, reviewing all the previously prepared variations, carefully checking to see if there were any loopholes. However, this plan, despite the preparation, was still a complex and fierce variation. With Doan Thang's playing style that leaned towards certainty, would he dare to take the risk in this direction?

At this moment, Doan Thang appeared restless, somewhat hesitant, as if he did not have enough courage to make such a risky move. This was clearly not a very positive sign, just like in the stock market, if at the crucial moment he acted awkwardly and indecisively, he would definitely have to pay the price. Doan Thang continued to think for a long time, falling into a dilemma. The plan to sacrifice troops to counterattack was very promising, but the risk was not small, especially since this was the final match of a top tournament. Should he take the risk or not?

Doan Thang took a deep breath, finally made up his mind, threw the cannon at the elephant, willing to abandon his piece to launch an attack, a risky move betting everything on a killing blow. At this time, the pressure shifted to Lai Ly Huynh. Because the defense system had many loopholes, defending against the opponent's strong attack became an extremely difficult problem.

Lai Ly Huynh seized the opportunity to turn the situation around.

Doan Thang's "flying knife" move was extremely formidable, causing Lai Ly Huynh's side to fall into a dangerous situation on all sides. However, Doan Thang was then impatient, moving his chariot from route 5 to route 3 to recapture the sacrificed piece, a move that was too slow. At this time, he should have used the 5-gun 4 cannon to both recapture the piece and maintain the attack pressure. In the attack phase, capturing pieces in a momentum manner is always more effective than just focusing on recovering lost pieces.

Because the opponent's moves were not sharp enough, Lai Ly Huynh took this opportunity to sacrifice a piece to regain the initiative, and at the same time sent the right wing rook to counterattack. The situation immediately turned in his favor. When he saw the situation starting to change, Doan Thang intended to take the initiative to reduce the pressure, but surprisingly, Lai Ly Huynh did not want to exchange pieces to bring the game to an end, this was completely beyond Doan Thang's expectations. Lai Ly Huynh was truly a fiery player. He was too determined, as soon as he saw a little opportunity, he immediately took full advantage, absolutely never giving up easily.

Lai Ly Huynh showed his mettle, seizing the opportunity to regain the upper hand.

PHOTO: CMH

Doan Thang tried to simplify the game by giving up first and taking later, but as a result, the situation got out of control and he fell into a disadvantageous position. At this time, Doan Thang began to think about taking advantage of the international competition rules, which was to use the method of continuously checking both sides to try to draw, or to use attacks to hold the opponent and hope to get a tactical draw.

However, Lai Ly Huynh's mid-game strength was too strong, he did not give Doan Thang any chance to turn the situation around. Next, Lai Ly Huynh let the third pawn cross the river, coordinating with the chariot and cannon to launch an all-out attack. At this point, Doan Thang's situation had completely collapsed. Overall, apart from the opening stage where he gained a clear advantage thanks to sharp "flying knife" moves, Doan Thang could not maintain his advantage when entering the mid-game and gradually lost to his opponent.

In the end, Vietnamese chess player Lai Ly Huynh was crowned champion of the men's individual event at the 2025 World Chinese Chess Championship. This is also the first time in the history of the tournament that China has lost the men's individual title, which is considered a symbol of the pinnacle of world Chinese chess.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nha-vo-dich-the-gioi-lai-ly-huynh-voi-ban-linh-phi-thuong-qua-lang-kinh-nguoi-trung-quoc-185250928104503733.htm