Capablanca Chess Memorial 2014 begins with Dominguez as Top Seed, Almasi as Defending Champion

Hello chess friends, particularly from Latin America! It is time again for that great chess tournament in Havana, Cuba - The Capablanca Chess Memorial.

The event begins with Cuban Grandmaster Leinier Domínguez versus Ukrainian Grandmaster Vassily Ivanchuk in the first round today, in the Elite Group. The tournament will be played at the  Habana Riviera Hotel. Leinier is the top seed at 2768 with Ivanchuk right behind at 2753. 

The Elite Group will include six-player double round robin, the strongest in the history of the event.
The players are Leinier Dominguez (Cuba, winner in 2004, 2008 and 2009), Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine, winner in 2005-2007 and 2010-2012), Wesley So (Philippines, first participation), Francisco Vallejo (Spain, winner in 2001), Zoltan Almasi (Hungary, winner in 2013) and Lazaro Bruzon (Cuba, winner in 2002) -- Official website

Don't forget, Vassily Ivancuk has won the Capablanca Chess Memorial six times!

Cuban Lazaro Bruzón (2682) is paired to play Philippine Wesley So (2731) and defending champion Hungarian Zoltan Almasi (2693) has to play Spanish Francisco Vallejo (2700) in the first round.

The chess festival includes a premier group and open group as well with former Cuban national chess champion Yuniesky Quesada (2642) as top seed followed by Peruvian Emilio Cordova (2616) in the premier section. 

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's

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49th Capablanca Chess in Havana May 7-18

Hello everyone,

The 49th edition of the Tournament Capablanca in Memoriam 2014 will take place on 7-18th May at the Habana Riviera Hotel in La Havana, Cuba.

The event is organized by the Cuban Chess Federation and the Instituto Nacional de Deportes Educación Física y Recreación (INDER).

This chess festival will be played in three groups:

The Elite Group will once again be a six-player double round robin, the strongest in the history of the event.

The players are Leinier Dominguez (Cuba, winner in 2004, 2008 and 2009), Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine, winner in 2005-2007 and 2010-2012), Wesley So (Philippines, first participation), Francisco Vallejo (Spain, winner in 2001), Zoltan Almasi (Hungary, winner in 2013) and Lazaro Bruzon (Cuba, winner in 2002).

The Premier Group will be a 10-player round robin with other top Cuban players and guests from Peru, Italy, Canada.

The players are GM Yuniesky Quesada (Cuba), GM Emilio Cordova (Peru), GM Isan Ortiz (Cuba), GM Danyyil Dvirnyy(Italy), GM Bator Sambuev (Canada), GM Yuri Gonzalez (Cuba), GM Yusnel Bacallao (Cuba), IM Carlos Hevia (Cuba) and IM Yasser Quesada (Cuba).

The Open A Group will be played over 10 rounds of Swiss system with about 100 participants. This section is open to the players with international titles and those rated above 2300 FIDE, youth champions and the qualifiers from last year’s Open B. (Report via FIDE)
 

Capablanca Chess Memorial in Havana May 7-18: Four-Time Winner Ivanchuk Confirms Participation

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2014

Hello everyone,

Ukraine's Vassily Ivanchuk, keeping up with his traditional chess ritual, will participate in the Capablanca Memorial Chess Tournament, to be held in Havana, Cuba, from May 7 to 18. Ivanchuk will be one among six elite-group players invited to the tournament.

Ivanchuk's presence consolidates Capablanca Memorial tournament as one of the best ones with high rivalry among the elite group, according to Jose Luis Ramirez, spokesman of the Cuban Chess Federation.

The Ukrainian player, winner of the 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2010 editions of the championship in Havana will visit the island for the sixth time. Ivanchuk has a huge chess fan following in the region. 

Ivanchuk will play in the elite group against Grandmasters Hungary's Zoltan Almasi (2,707), who is the current champion, Spain's Francisco Paco Vallejo (2,707), the Philippines' Wesly So (2,738) and Cubans Lazaro Bruzon (2,676) and Leinier Dominguez (2,757). The players from the elite group have an average elo ranking of 2,720.6 pints.

The Capablanca Chess Memorial begain in 1962 as an initiative of legendary Ernesto "Che" Guevara. The first winner was Argentine Miguel Najdorf, followed by Russians Boris Spassky, Vassily Smyslov and Lev Polugaesky.

Since 1974, the Capablanca Chess Memorial has included two groups. In 1980, there were four group and the format remained thus until 2006 when it established the current division of one double-round elite group including six players, making the tournament the most important one held in Cuba.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal chess blog
at www.chessqueen.com
Don't miss Chess Queen™
YouTube Channel