Havana, April 1 (JIT) - Cuban Grandmaster (GM) Carlos Daniel Albornoz celebrated the third place achieved without any setbacks in the 50th International Chess Tournament of La Roda 2024, in Spain.

The first man of the ranking in the Island rounded up 7.5 points out of a possible nine after signing peace against India's Chithambaram Vr. Aravindh in the closing round. 

The duel of just 28 moves from a Spanish Opening resulted in a rook and knight ending in which neither of the contenders risked too much in pursuit of the win.

The outcome left Aravindh with the same score, but the better tiebreaker opened the doors to the throne. Behind was Jagadeesh Siddharth, representative of Singapore, after the armistice agreed with India's Venkataraman Karthik, who also brought his total to 7.5 scratches.

Albornoz enjoyed the gain of 3.9 Elo points, which extends his permanence over the 2,600 barrier.

Guantanamo's Lennis Martinez and Camagüey's Jorge Roberto Elías, owners of seven and six scores respectively, anchored in the eighth and 25th positions of the ranking to complete the Antillean passage through the competition.

In the farewell, Lennis signed his seventh victory in the tournament with the host Juan Rottenwohrer as victim, but his chances were weighed down by two defeats. Elias said goodbye with a draw against Colombia's Felipe Hurtado, the second in a route that included five successes and a couple of setbacks.

The presentations of the Cuban exponents on Spanish soil will continue from next Tuesday, when Albornoz and Ernesto Fernandez begin to move pieces in the Menorca 2024 International Open Chess Tournament.

The level of demand will rise notably in this tournament of nine classic duels, given the registration of 19 players with Elo above 2,600 points. Among them stands out the Indian Arjun Erigaisi, owner of the 2,756 units that assure him the ninth place in the world ranking.