Paul Truong
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Paul Truong (born June 2, 1965) is an American and Cambodian
chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...
player, trainer, and organizer. He was born Trương Hoài Nhân in
Saigon Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...
,
South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...
. Truong holds the USCF title of National Master and the
FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( , ), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national chess federations and acts as the Spor ...
title of
FIDE Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...
. He is married to former
Women's World Chess Champion The Women's World Chess Championship is a chess match played to determine the Women's World Chess Champion. It has been administered by FIDE since its inception in 1927, unlike the absolute World Chess Championship, which only came under FIDE's ...
Susan Polgár Susan Polgar (born April 19, 1969, as Polgár Zsuzsanna and often known as Zsuzsa Polgár) is a Hungarian-American chess grandmaster. Polgár was Women's World Chess Champion from 1996 to 1999. On FIDE's Elo rating system list of July 1984, ...
. He is also Polgár's business manager, and vice-president of the Susan Polgar Foundation. He organized and/or promoted most of the events in which Polgár has been involved since she relocated to the United States. In 2007, Truong become the director of marketing and PR of the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE) and coach and chief strategist of the
Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship instit ...
chess team, with Polgár as the executive director of SPICE and head coach. The SPICE Program relocated to
Webster University Webster University is a private university with its main campus in Webster Groves, Missouri, United States. It has multiple branch locations across the United States and countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa. The university has an alumni net ...
in 2012. Truong has served as the coach and chief strategist of the Webster University chess team and director of marketing for the SPICE Program since then. In 2004, Truong was the captain and business manager of the U.S. women's team for the
36th Chess Olympiad The 36th Chess Olympiad (; ), organized by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. and a women's tourna ...
, /sup> which won a silver medal. /sup> While Truong served as coach and chief strategist, the Texas Tech University chess team was U.S. National Collegiate Champion in 2011 and 2012 and the Webster University team won in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. The Webster University chess team also won (or tied for first) in the Pan American Intercollegiate Championships every year from 2012 to 2018. /sup> Truong played for the "Collins Kids" founded by John W. Collins. He was on the team that went to
Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
in 1980. He also played when the U.S. hosted Iceland in a return match in New York City in 1981. In 2001, he won the U.S. Open Blitz Championship in Framingham, Massachusetts, ahead of
Hikaru Nakamura Christopher Hikaru NakamuraVietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
. Truong learned the
rules of chess The rules of chess (also known as the laws of chess) govern the play of the game of chess. Chess is a two-player Abstract strategy game, abstract strategy board game. Each player controls sixteen chess piece, pieces of six types on a chessboar ...
along with his father at the age of five and played at the National Sports Center (CSS) in
Saigon Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...
, a center for chess in the country. From an early age, he won the CSS's annual tournaments, which were informally recognized as the National Championships of South Vietnam. In all, he claims to have won the annual under-21 event four times, starting when he was five years old, and the annual adult event five times, starting when he was eight. Truong has been inactive as a competitive chess player since 1986.


Chess journalist and photographer

Truong is editor-in-chief of ''Chess Daily News & Information''. Truong has collaborated with Polgár on most of her books and videos, and he has co-authored with her numerous chess columns and articles. In 2003, Polgár and Truong won the Cramer Award for Best Chess Column and three Chess Journalist of America Awards for Best Magazine Column, Best Endgame Analysis Column, and Best Chess Promotion column. They also won the 2004 Chess Journalist of America Award for the best endgame column in ''Chess Horizons''. Following is a list of books that Truong has co-authored: * ''Alpha Teach Yourself Chess in 24 Hours'' by Susan Polgár, Paul Truong and Leslie Horvitz (2003); * ''A World Champion's Guide to Chess'' by Susan Polgár and Paul Truong (2005); * ''Breaking Through: How the Polgar Sisters Changed the Game of Chess'' by Susan Polgár and Paul Truong (2005); * ''Chess Tactics for Champions'' by Susan Polgár and Paul Truong (2006); Truong is a prolific photographer who has taken as many as 30,000 pictures per year at chess-related events in several countries. He posts his digital files in the public domain, usually on the day they are taken, for use free of charge by news outlets and blogs. Truong's photos have appeared on multiple book and magazine covers.


USCF election and resignation

In 2007, Truong ran for the USCF Executive Board and won, along with his wife, Susan.
Sam Sloan Samuel Howard Sloan (born September 7, 1944), also known as Mohammad Ismail Sloan, is an American perennial candidate and former broker-dealer. In 1978, he won a case ''pro se'' before the United States Supreme Court, becoming the last non-lawyer ...
, one of the defeated candidates, filed suit to overturn the election results. During the ensuing litigation, four members of the board asked Truong to step down from his position on the Board for "neglecting his fiduciary duties". The lawsuits eventually were all dismissed or settled, and Truong severed his affiliation with the USCF, with none of the parties admitting to any wrongdoing.


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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Truong, Paul 1965 births Living people American chess players Chess FIDE Masters Texas Tech University faculty Vietnamese chess players Vietnamese emigrants to the United States Chess coaches Sportspeople from Ho Chi Minh City Cambodian chess players