Chess is not in the 2027 SEA Games, and I think the reasons are mostly boring ones:

• medals,
• money and
• nobody lobbying hard enough.

The SEA Games Federation has settled on 43 sports and 473 events for the 34th SEA Games, spread across Kuala Lumpur, Sarawak, Penang and Johor. Bangkok 2025 had 573 events across 50 sports, so roughly 100 medal events got cut. Padel, kabaddi, teqball, dancesport and ice hockey all got back in on appeal. Chess did not!

I should say upfront that nobody has given an official reason (not that I've seen, anyway). What follows is my own reading of the situation, so please take it with a pinch of salt. And if you don't agree, please comment. Here is how I see it:

1. Medal harvesting: Host countries like to add sports where they are almost sure to win gold. Vietnam and Indonesia have strong GM rosters, so chess golds are hard to predict for Malaysia. Tenpin bowling, on the other hand, goes from 6 golds in Bangkok to 22 in 2027 (that is the number I was given, and I haven't double-checked it). You can see where the organisers' heads are at.
2. Cost trimming: Four clusters means four sets of venues, transport and accommodation. When you must go from 50 sports down to 43, the sports that are not Olympic and cannot promise host gold are the easy ones to drop. Sadly, chess is one of them.
3. Nobody pushed: Five sports made it back through the appeal window. Chess was not one of them, which suggests nobody lobbied loudly enough, or early enough. I can't prove it, but it is hard to see any other explanation.

Now this bugs me. A lot! On paper, Malaysia should be the stronger chess nation here, at least compared with Thailand. I believe we are ranked higher in FIDE terms (somewhere around the mid-60s to 70s globally, but please don't quote me on the exact number). We also have more IMs and one newly minted GM, and our open tournaments draw big crowds.

There were five other sports were not included in Malaysia’s initial 38-sport programme, and national Olympic committees were then invited to submit appeals for additional sports. 5 sports were added based on the appeal but chess was not one of them!

Thailand included chess in SEA games 2025. Thailand seems to get far more backing from government and institutions for its board games. I don't have solid numbers on how much, and I won't pretend to, but the general impression from people I've spoken to is that they have an easier time getting support. 

To summarise,

• Chess is out: 2027 SEA Games, no appeal succeeded.
• Likely reasons: medal targets, cost cutting, and no real lobbying.
• The gap: we may have the better players, but Thailand seems to have the better support.

I would love to be proven wrong on any of this, especially by someone from the organising committee or our federation. If you know more, please tell me!!