Havana, September 17 (RHC) – The Cuban chess team finished in second place for countries in the III Olympiad for people with disabilities.
The Caribbean team, featuring International Masters Carlos Larduet and Pedro Morales, Héctor Luis Fuentes, Idalis Batista, and Alberto Interián, achieved a historic performance, winning six of their seven matches and losing only one.
That defeat was by the narrowest of margins against Poland, the two-time defending champion and number one seed in the competition.
The Cuban squad accumulated 16.5 points in total, compared to Poland’s 17.5, thus improving upon their fifth-place finish in the previous edition.
Played this Thursday, in the seventh and final round, the players coached by Santiago de Cuba native Omar García Martínez defeated the Czech Republic 2.5-1.5, securing their best result in the history of these Chess Olympiads.
The Cuban team thus reaffirmed its status as the second-ranked team out of 41 teams based on Elo rating, second only to Poland.
