♣ 1st World Youth Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships 2017

The 1st World Youth U14, U16, U18 Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships 2017 was held in Creta Maris, Hersonissos, Crete, Greece from October 27 to 30.

Vietnam is the only country from Southeast Asia who competed at this inaugural chess championships.

Vietnamese woodpushers who won gold medals are Ngo Duc Tri in Rapid Under-14 and double gold medalist Nguyen Anh Khoi in Rapid Under-16 and in Blitz Under-16.

Also, team Vietnam snatched couple of silver medals courtesy of Le Minh Hoang in Blitz Under-18, Nguyễn Hồng Ngọc in the girls’ Under-18 category and Đỗ Vũ Thiên Nhi in the girls’ Under-16 class.

Vietnam is considered number 1 in Southeast Asia in the field of chess according to international participation, exposures and recent winnings.