Cuba: Date of the next Capablanca in Memoriam Chess Tournament is modified
The president of the Cuban Chess Federation, Carlos Rivero, announced that the next edition of the international Capablanca in Memoriam tournament will be held from April 18 to 28, and not in early May as traditionally happens.
Rivero, also national chess commissioner, pointed out that the tournament will be held at the Hotel Nacional de Cuba.
The change is made to avoid the coincidence of the Capablanca with the Continental Championship of America, a very important event for all players, including Cubans.
Rivero explained that the tournament will maintain the announced format, with an Elite group of 10 players (five foreigners and an equal number of nationals), which will include top-level players.
He indicated that there will be a second section, called Premier, with only women’s presence and a similar 10-player format, in addition to the usual Open group, which will be played by the Swiss system.
As a novelty, the next Capablanca tournament will be completed with a fourth group, called Senior, which will bring together players over 60 years of age.
Children will also return to the playing tables with the well-known tournament “Looking for a Capablanca”, and the usual space for conferences and courses will be maintained with the presence of renowned masters of the game of science.
All the planning took into account the strict compliance with the sanitary protocols against covid-19, although it is expected that the epidemiological situation in Cuba will not have worsened by then.
The last presential edition of the Capablanca tournament took place in May 2019, closed with the eighth triumph of Ukrainian Vassily Ivanchuk and was held at the Habana Libre Hotel, in Havana.
This time the halls of the Hotel Nacional will live its first experience as a tournament venue, while the organizers finalize every detail so that the next Capablanca in Memoriam meets the expectations of protagonists and fans.
