HAVANA, Cuba, Apr 20 (ACN) Sandro Mareco (Argentina) and Maritza Arribas (Cuba) made news after the second round of the Capablanca Memorial International Chess Tournament, held at Hotel Nacional de Cuba.
Eleven-time champion Arribas beat her compatriot Yuleisy Hernandez and went on to lead the Premier group together with the Romanian Irina Bulmaga—who drew with the Cuban Ineymig Hernandez—followed by Hernandez herself, Deisy Cori (Peru), Carolina Luján (Argentina), Oliwia Kiolbasa (Poland) and the home players Yaniela Forgas and Lisandra Ordaz.
In the Elite group, which gathers 10 Grandmasters, the unstoppable Mareco is the breakaway after defeating the Cuban Omar Almeida in 53 moves of a Pirc defense. With two points, the South American is ahead of Surya Ganguly (India), Mustafa Yilmaz (Turkey) and Vasif Durarbayli (Azerbaijan).
The Open section features 15 players with two wins and no losses, whereas the Senior category (for players aged 60 or over), the Cubans Félix Gómez, Gelacio González and José Antonio Hedman are so far undefeated.