HAVANA, Cuba, Jul 8 (ACN) Cubans Carlos Albornoz, Yasser Quesada, Lisandra Ordaz and Yerisbel Miranda have already arrived in the Russian resort of Sochi, where they will take part in the World Chess Cup starting next Monday.
The first of them, with 2,573 Elo points, will face the Czech Vojtech Plat (2,525), while Quesada (2,565) will have as opponent the Argentinean Leandro Krysa (2,527), and both duels are expected to be complicated.
Among women, the challenge is also strong for the national champion Ordaz (2,369) as opponent of the Azerbaijani Turkan Mamedjarova (2,309), while Yerisbel (2,262) will face the Kazakh Bibisara Assaubayeva (2,389).
The latter must be the least balanced match due to the difference in rank between Yerisbel and Assaubayeva, a young girl of only 17 years old, but who already holds the title of International Master among men.
Coach Rodney Perez commented shortly after their arrival that everyone has been preparing for the competition for several months and that despite the scarce activity of the current season, they are focused on their objectives.
Each match consists of two classical games and in case of a tie, it will be decided in quick duels. A system in which the loser returns home and the winner advances to the next stage.
In the men’s section, the great star is the current world champion, the Norwegian Magnus Carlsen, but others could complicate his path, such as the French Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, the Azeri Shakriyar Mamedyarov or the Italian-American Fabiano Caruana, just to mention some of the top-ten players.
The event will last until early August and is the first major call for a return to face-to-face play since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.