The Cuban National Championship 2013 will start on February 6th at Villa Clara. A blitz tournament will kick-off the activities one day before the Final Championship begins.
The Cuban stellar GMs Leinier Dominguez – who also is the defending champion – and Lazaro Bruzon will participate in the Blitz challenge but won’t take part in the Classical Final (as was previously announced), informed the National Commissionaire Carlos Rivero.
The Commission decided to free them from participating in a tournament where they will most likely lose some Elo points, and to give them the chance to prepare further for their international commitments. Leinier Dominguez is currently participating in the Grand Prix Series, which is part of the World Championship cycle.
However, the National Championship will count with the presence of the rest of the Olympic team, headed by GM Yuniesky Quesada, who is the only participant that has already won this prestigious event. He’ll be the clear favorite in the competition.
Besides Quesada, the strong GMs Isan Ortiz and Yusnel Bacallao will try to fight for the coveted first prize. They will be joined by the players who qualified in the recent semifinal played also in Villa Clara:
GM Holden Hernández (2541)
GM Omar Almeida (2506)
IM Diasmany Otero (2461)
FM Liordis Quesada (2448)
IM Carlos Hevia (2528)
FM Ermes Espinosa (2445)
FM Rider Díaz (2306)
Information taken from http://capablanca.inder.cu
Why no strong player?