To increase the attractiveness of the national tourney What I would like to emphasize here is the procedure, or how the tourney progresses. This year’s event was long, with a total of 15 standard games (9 in the qualifying round, and 2 in each quarterfinal, semifinal, and final rounds), making the players tired after playing at a high intensity of 3 games per 2 days. As a result, the professional quality of the event failed to be as good as expected.
Also, by organizing a national championship under the open form, which allows a large number of players with different levels and statuses to compete in the same category, the competitiveness of the event was partially reduced.
In the professional chess world, the “closed” tournaments, in which participants are personally invited to join, are always appreciated more than the open ones.
The invitation-only tourneys are not the friendly or exhibition tourneys as some may mistake them to be, but are the events which attract the strongest chess players, and have massive cash prizes and high professional quality.
In studying the international chess world, I have learned that in the countries whose chess community is highly developed, such as Russia, Hungary, China, and the US, the national championship is usually organized differently from their Vietnamese counterpart.
With the national championship the highest and most honorable tourney of the competition system of each country, it always attracts full participation from all of the countries’ top players.
At the event, they will only have to play other strong players one by one. (There will be only 10 to 12 players invited to join a championship of this kind).
Personally I think this system of organizing a tourney will make it more thrilling. With chess particularly well-known as a mind game with individual opponents, chess fans are always excited to watch duels between the most famous players. Thus, the Super Cups organized this way in Russia, Hungary, China, or the US have caught the attention of not only fans in those countries, but those from around the world.
I think such a tourney can definitely be held in Vietnam. It can be something called the Super Final. The organizers will first hold an open tournament to choose the three strongest players to attend the Super Final. The three players will compete with seven other opponents, who are players with the highest Elo rating in the Vietnamese chess world, in the final round of the national chess championship, which is a “closed” tourney.
Of course the two events should be held separately to ensure an adequate amount of time for the players to recover.
Launching such an unprecedented top tournament in Vietnam is not simple, in terms of both finance and form. But we can learn from the experience of other countries. What matters first is whether the Vietnam Chess Federation is determined enough to do so, and if there is strong support from sponsors.
If the tourney can actually be held, the Vietnamese chess community will not only increase its professional level, but also promote the image of a sport industry which is approaching the international level.
Fans will surely get more excited thanks to the high quality of the games, while young players will be motivated to improve their skills, which will all contribute to the development of the local chess world.
He’s right.