According to the rankings published by FIDE in February, Vietnam has three teenage chess players who have surpassed the Elo rating of 2400 (equivalent to the International Master - IM standard).
The three players are Dau Khuong Duy (14 years old) - Elo 2490, Pham Tran Gia Phuc (16 years old) - Elo 2449, and Bang Gia Huy (16 years old) - Elo 2436. Note that these are their ages according to the international age calculation.
Under FIDE’s competition system, the official junior category is defined as U20. However, when applying the stricter U18 classification, very few countries worldwide have three or more players who have reached IM standard.
The four traditional chess superpowers — the United States, China, Russia, and India — continue to dominate the global chess scene. According to FIDE’s national rankings, Germany currently sits in fifth place and also has three International Masters in the U18 age group.
Meanwhile, France, ranked sixth in the world, has only one U18 International Master. Countries ranked below, such as Ukraine and the Netherlands, do not yet have any representatives in this category, while Uzbekistan has two U18 players who have surpassed the 2400 Elo threshold.
With three U18 players above 2400 Elo, Vietnam stands level with Germany in terms of International Masters in this age group, reaffirming its position among the world’s five most promising youth chess nations, trailing only the traditional powerhouses.
Among the three players mentioned above, Dau Khuong Duy has made even faster progress than Le Quang Liem when compared at the same age, promising to inherit his senior's top world ranking.
HY