FIDE master Nguyen Anh Khoi of Vietnam beat Russian player Andrey Esipenko on September 29, taking the trophy of the U12 World Chess Championships in Durban, South Africa.
Despite holding black pieces, Khoi (elo 2208), who had defeated Kumar Aravind of the US in the previous round, forced Andrey Esipenko to surrender after 59 moves in a four-hour game.
The Vietnamese player claimed the championship title after 11 Swiss standard games although he had been knocked out of the top 10 in the previous three rounds.
Zarubitski Viachaslau of Belarus was placed second, while Taghuzadeh Rayan of the US came in third.
This is the seventh time a Vietnamese chess player has topped the world chess circle. FIDE honoured Dao Thien Hai (U16 champion in 1993), Nguyen Thi Dung (U12 in 1994), Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son (U10 in 2000), Le Quang Liem (U14 in 2005), and Tran Minh Thang (U8 in 2008).
Notably, Khoi is the only Vietnamese chess player who has won the world championship title twice – U10 in 2012, and U12 in 2014.
In the women’s U8 category, Vietnam’s Luu Ha Bich Ngoc earned 8.5 points after 11 games to clinch a silver medal. The gold medallist was Davaakhuu Munkhzul of Mongolia.
VOV/VNN