Albornoz repeats among Benalmadena Chess winners

Havana, March 1 (JIT) - Cuban Carlos Daniel Albornoz closed in second place in the Blitz tournament of the Benalmadena Chess Festival 2023, in the Spanish city of Malaga.

The Camagüey native completed another excellent performance, by scoring eight points out of a possible 10 in an event of games with four minutes for each side, plus two seconds of increment after each move.

Albornoz filed seven wins, agreed a couple of draws and only lost in the third round against Venezuelan Cristobal Blanco. Among his victims was Spain's Salvador del Rio, one of the highest ranked players in the event.

Among the ties was the one signed with the Bulgarian Ivan Cheparinov, also among the best registered players and owner of the third position thanks to 7.5 scratches.

Only Armenian Karen Grigoryan finished ahead of the Cuban with 8.5 points. In addition to being the first pre-qualified by Elo, the European was one of the great favorites at the closing of this Festival, since he reigned in the rapid duels of this Festival.

In this modality, Albornoz was in fifth place with 6.5 points in nine rounds. Then he "slipped" into second place in the 960 Chess tournament, thanks to seven scores out of eight possible.

The call in the town of Malaga represented the first commitment of the two-time Cuban national champion in his tour of Spain. The next one will be the Open Chess Tournament of La Roda 2023, from April 5 to 9, and later the Open Chess Tournament of Menorca 2023, from April 11 to 16. Both competitions, of classical games, will have contestants with more than 2,600 Elo points. In addition to the player from Agramontino, in La Roda, Lelys Martínez and Yaniela Forgas from Santiago de Cuba are registered.