Havana, October 21 (RHC) – Cuba enjoyed an excellent 3-1 start against Kazakhstan at the 2025 Astana Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities.
Individual wins by Carlos Larduet and Héctor Luis Fuentes supported a team success that included draws by Pedro Morales, in his role as team leader, and Idalis Batista, playing on board four.
National methodologist Wilfredo Toledo highlighted what happened on the boards, especially since they had only arrived at the competition venue a few hours earlier and had played some good games.
Larduet, the most experienced of the group with a silver medal in the world championship for the blind and partially sighted, defeated Nurgisa Kuanyshuly in 67 moves in a Reti opening on board two, and Héctor Luis defeated Erlan Nurhayev in third place in 41 moves with a Queen’s Pawn.
Pedro’s tie came in 44 moves in a Sicilian Defense against Alimzhan Ayapov, and Idalis negotiated it in just 10 moves in a Ruy López opening against Aiganym Kamabarova.
A total of 15 teams emerged victorious in this first round, and the Cuban team is ranked ninth in the tiebreaker. From this position, they will face India, which recently defeated a weak Myanmar team.
This is the second edition of a tournament of this type, and according to the schedule, six rounds will be played using the Swiss system.
