Chess 

Grandmaster Lê Tuấn Minh earns Việt Nam's first slot at the Esports Nations Cup 2026 in Saudi Arabia in November. — Photo courtesy of SAV

HÀ NỘI — Grandmaster Lê Tuấn Minh is the first Vietnamese representative at the Esports Nations Cup (ENC) 2026 in Saudi Arabia in November.

Based on his No 15 place in the Champions Chess Tour rankings, the organising board of the ENC 2026 gives a slot to compete in the men's chess event which will deliver US$600,000 to the participating players.

Chess joins the ENC for the first time, bringing the world’s top players together in a country/territory format. The competition combines classical mastery with high-level esports play, testing both strategy and precision as players represent their countries and territories on the global stage.

A total of 128 slots are available for chess, with a maximum of two players per country or territory.

In addition to the 64 directly invited players, 56 more will qualify through regional online qualifiers, with the final eight slots awarded via wildcards.

The regional qualifiers will take place on June 6-7 and 13-14. 

At the ENC, chess will be held on November 2-8.

Players will be divided into 16 groups of eight, competing in a single round robin format. Top four of each group will advance to the next stage where they will compete in the single elimination bracket format.

Minh is currently Vietnamese No 3 player in the FIDE world ranking. He is a regular member of the national team competing the international arenas such as Olympiad and Asian Mind Sports Festival.

He has made impressive record in his career with notable achievement including three SEA Games gold medals, one Olympiad bronze and a double of Asian Mind Sports Festival titles.

The 2026 Esports Nations Cup is an multi-game, country-based esports series hosted by the Esports World Cup Foundation. It is the first edition of the Esports Nations Cup series, an expanded series from the Esports World Cup with participants representing the country directly instead of clubs. — VNS