HÀ NỘI — The Vietnamese men’s chess team have won gold in Group B at the 2026 Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

Việt Nam drew with Kazakhstan in their final match on Sunday to finish top of the group after 11 rounds, with six wins, three draws and two losses.

The team, comprising Đầu Khương Duy, Bành Gia Huy, Nguyễn Quốc Hy and Phạm Trần Gia Phúc, entered the tournament as the No. 47 seed, with an average Elo rating of 2,456, and competed in Group B.

Organisers divided teams into groups based on their initial seeding. Group A featured the top 40 seeded teams, while the remaining teams competed in Group B.

The Chess Olympiad is the biennial world team championship organised by the International Chess Federation, and is widely regarded as the 'Olympics of chess'. The open section at this year’s event featured 205 countries and territories.

Each match consisted of four boards, with one point awarded for a win, half a point for a draw and no points for a loss.

Việt Nam’s Group B title came despite the absence of experienced Grandmasters Lê Quang Liêm, Nguyễn Ngọc Trường Sơn and Lê Tuấn Minh.

The result also saw Huy and Hy earn Grandmaster norms at the 2026 Olympiad, helping them on their way to earn the Grandmaster title and marking an important milestone for Vietnamese chess. — VNS