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Shared first as well with 7.0/9 was the Cuban GM Yuniesky Quesada Perez
The third Cuban on the podium to also share first was Alonso Yusnel Bacallao (left)
Professional chess can be rough at times, particularly with two rounds a day
Alan Pichot - Yusnel Bacallao Alonso
For the European players though, over the board life was not easy, in spite of the good organization and all the provided facilities. Favourites in the race, Aleksey Dreev and Sergey Tiviakov, succeeded in minimizing the damage and ended honorably in 5th and 6th positions, respectively.
Fifth place for Dreev
Tiviakov took sixth
Chess is cool with...
…Rolando Alarcon Casellas from Cuba.
Erwin l'Ami, rated third on the starting list, closed the chapter on a less fortunate 12th place, after losing to Jorge Cori in the last round. Yup, just one round can make the difference between "having a good tournament after all" and one that is rather below par. However, what can you do when your body has gone to work in the playing hall, while your mind remained in bed, enjoying just a little bit more of sleep? This wicked internal rhythm can prove quite tricky when disrupted by hard work, time zones and sleep deprivation. Two games a day for five consecutive days require at least eight or nine hours of brain defrag during the night, but if one doesn't have the luxury of a complete reboot due to long games or immoderate adrenaline...the entire system can fall apart.
Something went wrong? Maybe, but that won't spoil the nice experience! (just quoted my husband)
Erwin L'Ami - J. Flores Guerrero
No efforts are spared to play a good game (Cuban GM Aryam Abreu Delgado)
Patience, patience, patience...if you still have it after a couple of days of double rounds: congrats!
You are eligible for a fabulous career!
The proud winner and finally smiling: Lazaro Batista Bruzon
The media was there to record the event
Learn from the best: at the end of the tournament, they are still able to
play even more chess?!?
No matter how tired one is, the show must go on. This happened with the organizer who, after the exhausting tournament days, didn't spare his energy to take us by car to Cancun (more than three hours of driving) when finding out we might have problems with our planned connection.
Javier Herrera Aussin, above and beyond the call of duty, showed is endless energy that he
shared with the three players squeezed in the back
This is what I call true love for the game! Total darkness will not stop a real chess fan continuing
his road to chess improvement. His mother is obviously helping with both the flashlight and with
the solutions on the laptop.
Nevertheless, Erwin and yours truly, had a magnificent albeit very condensed time. So if you are looking for an antidote to combat the possibly too compact schedule...we found it!
Next year you can surely beat the eventual jet lag and get used to the Latin American style of playing non-stop chess by joining the Mexican Chess Circuit, starting on September 10th and ending mid-December. Bearing some similarity with the famous already Catalan Circuit, the Mexican one will consist of the following events:
In between tournaments, you can take some days off to visit the gorgeous Mexican sites like Uxmal
Uxmal is one of the most important sites to see in Mexico
The serpent was a very important social and religious symbol, revered by the Mayans. Mayan
mythology describes serpents as being the vehicles by which celestial bodies, such as the sun
and stars, cross the heavens. The shedding of their skin made them a symbol of rebirth and renewal.
You can see on the right side the main structure of Uxmal, the Pyramid of the Magician, which has so
many legends that even three articles would be insufficient to properly mention them all. So do travel!
Happy visitors!
These tournaments are worth keeping in mind; I don’t know about you, but I haven't achieved all my aims in 2015. Luckily 2016 is approaching fast, so... there will be plenty of new chances for everybody, dear chess friends all over the World!
Playing chess with Mayan deities
The candles are an example of how strongly Mexicans feel about their spiritual selves
Happy holidays to you all!
