Luis Ernesto Quesada

Havana, Jun 1 (ACN) Cuban Luis Ernesto Quesada finished with 7.5 points out of a possible 11 and placed 14th in the 2025 Continental Chess Championship of the Americas in Foz de Iguazú, Brazil, won by American Sam Shankland.

After reaching the tenth round at the top of the table, the 2024 Cuban champion lost his last two games and saw his main goal for the tournament slip away: qualifying for the World Cup in November.

He lost to host Alexandr Fier and Colombian Santiago Ávila.

Shankland led because he had the best tiebreaker among all those who finished with 8.5 points. He agreed to a draw in his final game against Mexican José Eduardo Martínez, and the calculations for the Buchholz Variable Tie-Break favored him.

Martínez himself finished second with the same total of 8.5 points, and Fier came in third, also with the same score.

This was the last chance to qualify for one of the direct spots in the world championship. Quotas have also been distributed in regional competitions, and some federations will be allocated spots based on their results in the last Olympics.