A total of 120 chess players from the Americas gathered in the Bolivian city of Cochabamba to battle in the Continental Chess Championship 2013, which will give four qualification spots for the upcoming World Cup in Norway to be played in August.
The event, which will last until May 15th, counts with the participation of the regional elite, with 14 GMs, 16 IMs and 14 FMs among the registered players.
Among the favorites, we can highlight Peruvian Julio Granda, defending champion after winning the 2012 event in Mar del Plata, Argentina; Cuban GMs Lázaro Bruzón, Yuniesky Quesada and Isam Ortíz, that will have the biggest national representation apart from the organizing country.
The local line-up will be headed by Oswaldo Zambrana; Argentine champion Diego Flores will also be present; Eduardo Iturrizaga will be representing Venezuela; and Aleksandr Lenderman will defend the flog of the United States.
The event is a 11-round Swiss open with a classical FIDE time control.
Participants (top seeds):
1 GM Bruzon Batista Lazaro CUB 2707
2 GM Granda Zuniga Julio E PER 2659
3 GM Iturrizaga Eduardo VEN 2655
4 GM Ortiz Suarez Isan Reynaldo CUB 2598
5 GM Flores Diego ARG 2586
6 GM Lenderman Aleksandr USA 2585
7 GM Vasquez Schroeder Rodrigo CHI 2554
8 GM Mekhitarian Krikor Sevag BRA 2551
9 GM Cubas Jose Fernando PAR 2550
10 GM Cori Jorge PER 2546
11 GM Bachmann Axel PAR 2531
12 GM Zambrana Oswaldo BOL 2478
13 IM Hambleton Aman CAN 2468
14 IM Gonzalez Bernal CRC 2461
15 IM Sarkar Justin USA 2437
16 WGM Cori T. Deysi PER 2430
17 IM Prasca Sosa Rafael VEN 2426
18 IM Juarez Flores Carlos A. GUA 2404
19 IM Leiva Giuseppe PER 2388
20 IM Pacheco Marco PER 2384
They’ll get in.