2024-02-14 10:47:20
The men’s section of the Cuban National Chess Championship opened this Monday in Holguín with only 26 participants. No chess player residing abroad accepted the invitation of the Federation of this sport on the Island, which in October urged emigrants who had maintained a “respectful relationship” with the ruling party and were not members of another federation to participate in the tournament.
Those who have taken the lead in the match so far are the grandmasters Luis Ernesto Quesada, from Ciego de Ávila, and Omar Almeida, from Havana, who lead the rounds with two victories each and this Wednesday they will star in the most anticipated confrontation of a tournament that the official press has described – disguising its mediocrity – as “quite calm”.
With a victory and a draw, Carlos Albornoz from Camagüey advances, the favorite of the Cuban Federation to represent the Island in international events
Another relevant point was the defeat of the current national champion, Elier Miranda from Villa Clara, against César Alejandro Pérez from Las Tunas. So far, both have accumulated, respectively, 0.5 and one point. With a victory and a draw, Carlos Daniel Albornoz from Camagüey advances, the favorite of the Cuban Federation to represent the Island in international events and winner, on two occasions, of the national championship.
The record of national titles is still held by the Las Tunas native Lázaro Bruzón – with six victorious championships –, the most critical of the invitation made by the Cuban Federation to the emigrants. Last October, Bruzón rebuked the ruling party for arrogating to itself the right to discard or admit chess players in the competition based on their “respect” for the regime. In a direct transmission, he assured that he did not plan to attend.
The big absentee from the competition was, without a doubt, Leinier Domínguez, declared this January as the eighth best chess player in the world according to the International Chess Federation. The ruling party had made a reservation with the grandmaster, who resides in the United States and represents the Federation of that country, and he announced that he considered him “eligible” to enter the Cuban championship. “But for Bruzón, who has been disrespectful towards the Federation and Inder, we do not believe that he is interested in doing so,” the institution also said. Domínguez, in one of the best moments of his career worldwide, did not comment on the invitation.
Weighed down by leaks, lack of preparation and “transfers” to other federations, Cuban chess is experiencing one of the most critical moments in its history on the Island. An article published by Jit reported this Monday that the virtual participation of the Cuban team in the IV Kasparov Foundation University Chess Cup – directed by Garry Kasparov, former world champion and opponent of Vladimir Putin – had been affected by several blackouts.
“That was a very tense round. We had had problems in the previous one with the electrical fluid and that affected the players a little”
“That was a very tense round. We had had problems in the previous one with the electrical fluid and that affected the players a little,” acknowledged referee Melquiades Quintana, captain of the university team.
“It was a very good experience, with a high level. I dare say that it is the tournament online strongest university in which Cuba has participated,” said Quintana, who added: “We only regret that electricity failure that we could not foresee.”
The young chess players reached 27th place among the 117 university institutions that participated in the tournament, although the coach insists that, with the presence of Cristian Vitier and Abel Fabián López, who are at the national meeting, the team could have been among the top 10. The victory, however, went to the University of Rio Grande Valley, in Texas (United States), followed by Gunadarma University (Indonesia) and the National University of kyiv (Ukraine).
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