The tournament brought together players from 25 federations, including many strong chess nations such as China, India, Japan, South Korea, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, New Zealand and the United States. The Vietnam Chess Team participated with 160 players, making it the second-largest delegation, behind only the host Singapore with 199 players.
Players competed in three disciplines, including standard chess, rapid chess and blitz chess, across age groups from U6 to U20, as well as categories for older players, Premier and Challengers. Results were counted for both individual and team events.
In standard chess, the Vietnam team won 40 gold medals, 13 silver medals and 26 bronze medals. In rapid chess, Vietnamese players continued to demonstrate their dominance with 40 gold medals, 15 silver medals and 26 bronze medals. In blitz chess, the delegation won another 41 gold medals, 9 silver medals and 33 bronze medals. With a total of 121 gold medals, Vietnam topped all three disciplines, establishing a significant gap over the other delegations.
In the standard chess event, many Vietnamese players performed excellently and claimed top positions in their respective age groups. In the U8 category, Nguyen Tran Gia Vuong and Le Hung Manh both scored 7.5 points. Bui Duc Thien Anh topped the U10 category with 7.5 points; Le Phan Hoang Quan led the U12 category with 7 points, while Nguyen Manh Duc topped the U16 category with the same score of 7 points.
In the older age groups, IM Nguyen Quoc Hy led the U20 category with 6.5 points, while FM Tran Ngoc Minh Duy topped the U18 category with 6.5 points. In the women's categories, Nguyen Vu Bao Chau finished first in G10; Nguyen Minh Chi and Tong Thai Hoang An took the top two positions in G14, while FM Nguyen Hong Nhung topped G20.
Vietnamese players with extensive experience also made their mark at the tournament. GM Cao Sang won first place in the over-50 category with 7 points after 9 rounds. In the Challengers category, Bui Duc Huy and Luu Huong Cuong Thinh took the top two positions, respectively. Meanwhile, in the Premier category, GM Le Tuan Minh finished second with 6.5 points, behind Singapore's GM Tin Jingyao due to the tiebreak score.
The Philippines team finished second overall with 84 medals, including 25 gold, 36 silver and 23 bronze medals. The gap in the number of gold medals demonstrates the dominance of the Vietnamese delegation at this year's tournament.
The achievement at the 24th ASEAN+ Age-Group Chess Championships once again demonstrates the strength and depth of Vietnamese chess, as the players maintained their competitiveness across numerous age groups and events. The result is also a positive sign for the training and development of young chess players, helping to lay a foundation for Vietnamese chess to pursue greater achievements at regional and international competitions.
Nguyen Khang