Capablanca Chess Tournament Kicks Off

Havana, May 7 (Prensa Latina) The drawing of lots by elite chess players will focus the opening ceremony of the 43rd Capablanca Memorial International Chess Tournament, scheduled for Wednesday evening at the Neptuno-Triton hotel resort in Havana.

According to a report from the Cuban News Agency -AIN-, the order of the matches for the nine sessions of the competition will be defined after each of the ten Grand Masters (GM) randomly pick numbers that may mark their fate.

The elite group will be granted the 15th category of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) for having an average ELO of 2,602 points. Heading the group is Cuba’s Leinier Dominguez (2,695), who is in the 26th position in world ranking.

Before leaving Caracas, Eduardo Iturrizaga, first Grand Master of Venezuela, said he aspires to dominate at the José Raúl Capablanca In Memoriam, although he still has to obtain the 2,600 ELO, threshold to enter elite events.

Another favorite is Holland’s Sergei Tiviakov (2,634), 84th in the world, and holder of the European title. He is one of the four foreign players among the group of elite competitors. The others are Farruk Amonatov (2,625), from Tajikistan, Poland’s Radoslaw Wojtaszek (2,625) and German Igor Khenki (2,608).

Also among the top players is Cuban Lazaro Bruzon (2,608).

With ELOs below 2,600 are locals Holden Hernandez (2,568), national champion Yuniesky Quesada (2,567), Jesus Nogueiras (2,559) and Walter Arencibia (2,534). GM Neuris Delgado (2,530), and International Master (IM) Fidel Corrales (2,502), who is waiting for FIDE’s confirmation to be named GM, will take part in the event.

Source: www.plenglish.com

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