According to the Turkish Chess Federation, this will be the largest ever Olympiad, with competitors coming from 162 countries and territories.

Vietnam will compete in men’s and women’s team events.

The men’s team consists of Le Quang Liem, Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, Dao Thien Hai, Nguyen Duc Hoa and Nguyen Van Huy. As Vietnam’s leading male chess player, International Grand Master Le Quang Liem will seat at Table 1 in all rounds.

The women’s team includes: Pham Le Thao Nguyen, Le Kieu Thien Kim, Nguyen Thi Mai Hung, Pham Bich Ngoc and Hoang Thi Nhu Y. Except for Le Kieu Thien Kim, all female chess players are very young.

The coaching board hopes that the women’s team will be successful at the tournament. The men’s team used to rank tenth at the Chess Olympiad 2010.

Earlier, the Vietnamese chess team performed very well at the Asian Chess Championships in May, winning six gold, three silver and four bronze medals, ranking third after China and India.

The men’s team won the championship while the women’s team ranked second for blitz chess event.

Vietnam also won three individual medals for Tables 1, 2 and 5 for men (Le Quang Liem, Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son and Dao Thien Hai) and a gold and a bronze medal for Pham Le Thao Nguyen and Hoang Thi Bao Tram, Tables 4 and 3.

The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams from all over the world compete against each other. The event is organized by FIDE, which selects the host nation.

Each FIDE recognized chess association can enter a team into the Olympiad. Each team is made of up to five players, four regular players and one reserve.

The trophy for the winning team in the open section is the Hamilton-Russell Cup, which was offered by the English magnate Frederick Hamilton-Russell as a prize for the 1st Olympiad (London 1927). The cup is kept by the winning team until the next event, when it will be consigned to the next winner. The trophy for the winning women's team is known as the Vera Menchik Cup in honor of the first Women's World Chess Champion.

The 2010 Olympiad was held in Russia. The 2012 Olympiad is going to be held in Turkey and the 2014 Olympiad in Norway.

Compiled by S. Tung