Vietnam chess hits 5-year high, cracking world’s top 30

According to the latest rankings released by FIDE, Vietnam moved up three places from October and officially joined the world's top 30 chess nations.

The achievement caps a remarkable two-month surge.

Before the 2026 Chess Olympiad in Uzbekistan in September, Vietnam ranked 36th in the mixed category.

Following the tournament, the country rose four places to 32nd in early October before climbing another three spots to 29th in November, gaining seven positions in two months.

The achievement is particularly notable as Vietnam has overtaken several countries with long-standing chess traditions.

In October, the Southeast Asian nation was already ranked above Italy, which stood 33rd, and Norway, which was 35th.

Norway is the home country of Magnus Carlsen, widely regarded as one of the greatest chess players in history, while Italy has a long-established chess tradition in Europe.

FIDE’s mixed-country ranking measures the combined strength of each country’s leading male and female players based on their standard-chess Elo ratings.

It does not represent team competition results or mixed-doubles performance.

A major factor behind Vietnam’s rise was its performance at the 2026 Chess Olympiad.

The Vietnamese men’s team, seeded 47th before the tournament, finished 19th overall and won gold in Group B.

The women’s team performed even better, finishing ninth despite being seeded 21st.

Several Vietnamese players also made significant gains in their Elo ratings.

Nguyen Quoc Hy gained 46 points, rising from 2,428 to 2,474, while Banh Gia Huy added 20 points to reach 2,484. Both also earned grandmaster norms at the Olympiad.

On the women’s team, Nguyen Thi Mai Hung stood out with an unbeaten record across nine games, scoring seven wins and two draws. She won an individual silver medal on Board 5 and gained 29.4 Elo points, reaching 2,306.

Vietnam’s women’s ranking also improved from 31st to 24th in October, overtaking countries with established chess traditions, including Czechia, Slovenia and Iran.

The momentum continued at international tournaments following the Olympiad.

At the World Youth Chess Championships in Spain in October, Vu Nguyen Bao Linh won silver in the girls’ U15 category, while Nguyen Manh Duc took bronze in the open U15 event. Bao Linh was particularly impressive, gaining nearly 200 Elo points following the tournament.

The series of achievements has brought Vietnam back into the world’s top 30 chess nations, a milestone previously reached by the country’s so-called golden generation, led by Le Quang Liem and Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, about a decade ago.