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In January 2019, Guatemala City, the capital of Guatemala, was host of the strongest tournament in the history of Guatemala and Central America. Ten grandmasters started in a field of 134 players and after nine rounds the former Continental Champion GM Sandro Mareco (2661) from Argentina shared first place with GM José Fernando (Pepe) Cuenca (2512) from Spain, and GM Ilja Zaragatski (2465) from Germany with 7.5 each. Mareco won on tiebreak.
The best Guatemalan was IM Carlos Armando Juárez Flores (2377): he finished 7th with 6.5/9.
| Rk. | Snr | Name | Country | Elo | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | ||
| 1 | 1 |
|
GM | Mareco Sandro | ARG | 2661 | 7,5 | 1,5 | 6 | 57,0 |
| 2 | 4 |
|
GM | Cuenca Jimenez Jose Fernando | ESP | 2512 | 7,5 | 1,0 | 7 | 54,5 |
| 3 | 8 |
|
GM | Zaragatski Ilja | GER | 2465 | 7,5 | 0,5 | 7 | 56,0 |
| 4 | 5 |
|
GM | Barrientos Sergio E | COL | 2494 | 7,0 | 0,0 | 6 | 56,0 |
| 5 | 2 |
|
GM | Almeida Quintana Omar | CUB | 2540 | 7,0 | 0,0 | 5 | 56,0 |
| 6 | 6 |
|
GM | Strikovic Aleksa | SRB | 2490 | 6,5 | 0,0 | 6 | 55,0 |
| 7 | 11 |
|
IM | Juarez Flores Carlos A. | GUA | 2377 | 6,5 | 0,0 | 6 | 54,0 |
| 8 | 13 |
|
FM | Cu Hor Winston Darwin | GUA | 2320 | 6,5 | 0,0 | 6 | 52,0 |
| 9 | 12 |
|
GM | Sriram Jha | IND | 2373 | 6,5 | 0,0 | 6 | 50,5 |
| 10 | 10 |
|
IM | Calderin Gonzalez Roberto | MEX | 2427 | 6,5 | 0,0 | 6 | 49,5 |
| 11 | 3 |
|
GM | Gonzalez Zamora Juan Carlos | MEX | 2529 | 6,5 | 0,0 | 6 | 49,5 |
| 12 | 7 |
|
GM | Mitkov Nikola | MKD | 2477 | 6,5 | 0,0 | 5 | 55,0 |
| 13 | 9 |
|
GM | Gonzalez Renier | USA | 2451 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 6 | 54,0 |
| 14 | 20 |
|
IM | Gongora Montes Benjamin | MEX | 2143 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 6 | 53,5 |
| 15 | 32 |
|
Gavarrete Joel | HON | 2040 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 6 | 47,5 | |
| 16 | 27 |
|
Ramirez Marino Richard Daniel | VEN | 2080 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 6 | 45,5 | |
| 17 | 44 |
|
Pineda Wilson | GUA | 1919 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 6 | 44,0 | |
| 18 | 33 |
|
De La Cruz Erick | GUA | 2037 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 5 | 46,5 | |
| 19 | 38 |
|
Cu Hor Kelvin Emerson | GUA | 1988 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 5 | 45,0 | |
| 20 | 26 |
|
FM | Sarat Victor | GUA | 2089 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 5 | 41,0 |
| 21 | 68 |
|
Palencia Julio | GUA | 1764 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 5 | 39,5 | |
| 22 | 14 |
|
IM | Lorenzana Wilson Estuardo | GUA | 2285 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 4 | 48,5 |
| 23 | 37 |
|
Monzon Perez Calixto Raul | GUA | 1999 | 5,5 | 0,0 | 5 | 49,5 |
Sandro Mareco | Photo: CDAG Guatemala
After the success of the first tournament, a second edition followed in January 2020. This time 146 players from 18 countries started, including 13 Grandmasters, 1 WGM, 8 IM, 2 WIM, 6 FM, 5 CM, 2 WCM. After nine rounds four players shared first place with 7.0/9 each: GM Nikola Mitkov (2508) from Macedonia, GM Alfonso Romero Holmes (2415) from Spain, GM Sandro Mareco (2619), and GM Cristóbal Henríquez Villagra (2603) from Chile. Mitkov won on tiebreak.
The best Guatemalan was National Champion FM Winston Darwin Cu Hor (2301), who finished 11th with 6.5/9.
| Rk. | Snr | Name | Country | Elo | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
| 1 | 9 | GM | Mitkov Nikola | MKD | 2508 | 7,0 | 0,0 | 7 | 53,5 |
| 2 | 14 | GM | Romero Holmes Alfonso | ESP | 2415 | 7,0 | 0,0 | 7 | 52,0 |
| 3 | 1 | GM | Mareco Sandro | ARG | 2619 | 7,0 | 0,0 | 5 | 55,5 |
| 4 | 3 | GM | Henriquez Villagra Cristobal | CHI | 2603 | 7,0 | 0,0 | 5 | 50,0 |
| 5 | 10 | GM | Zaragatski Ilja | GER | 2507 | 6,5 | 0,0 | 6 | 55,5 |
| 6 | 12 | GM | Barrientos Sergio E | COL | 2458 | 6,5 | 0,0 | 6 | 51,0 |
| 7 | 2 | GM | Huschenbeth Niclas | GER | 2616 | 6,5 | 0,0 | 6 | 49,5 |
| 8 | 29 | WIM | Fuentes Godoy Lilia Ivonne | MEX | 2131 | 6,5 | 0,0 | 6 | 46,5 |
| 9 | 11 | GM | Rodriguez Vila Andres | URU | 2469 | 6,5 | 0,0 | 5 | 55,5 |
| 10 | 4 | GM | Cruz Cristhian | PER | 2567 | 6,5 | 0,0 | 5 | 51,5 |
| 11 | 21 | FM | Cu Hor Winston Darwin | GUA | 2301 | 6,5 | 0,0 | 5 | 50,5 |
| 12 | 8 | GM | Gonzalez Zamora Juan Carlos | MEX | 2537 | 6,5 | 0,0 | 5 | 48,5 |
| 13 | 22 | Araujo Sanchez Josue | DOM | 2301 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 6 | 51,5 | |
| 14 | 25 | IM | Burgos Figueroa Carlos E. | ESA | 2192 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 6 | 50,5 |
| 15 | 20 | IM | Leyva Hector | ESA | 2319 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 6 | 48,5 |
| 16 | 39 | CM | Lievano Luis | ESA | 2014 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 6 | 46,5 |
| 17 | 48 | Mesa Cruz Juan Carlos | DOM | 1903 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 6 | 43,5 | |
| 18 | 6 | GM | Almeida Quintana Omar | CUB | 2548 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 5 | 55,0 |
| 19 | 7 | GM | Cuenca Jimenez Jose Fernando | ESP | 2538 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 5 | 53,0 |
| 20 | 15 | IM | Camacho Collados Marcos | ESP | 2408 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 5 | 53,0 |
| 21 | 19 | FM | Rafiee Makan | GER | 2322 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 5 | 49,0 |
| 22 | 24 | WGM | Hernandez Moya Yuleisy | CUB | 2208 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 5 | 45,5 |
| 23 | 27 | Guevara Castillo Francisco J. | GUA | 2162 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 5 | 43,5 | |
| 24 | 81 | Perez Salazar Armando | ESA | 1710 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 5 | 43,0 | |
| 25 | 18 | FM | Aizpurua Patrick | PAN | 2348 | 5,5 | 0,0 | 5 | 52,5 |
Nikola Mitkov | Photo: Club Caissa Guatemala
Winston Darwin Cu Hor | Photo: Club Caissa Guatemala
Unfortunately, the Corona pandemic put a stop to almost all live tournaments, and in 2021 the third edition of the International Open of the Club Caissa Guatemala went online as a 7 round Swiss tournament with a time control of 15 + 10, played on chess.com.
But the tournament was just as strong as the previous editions. 96 players from 19 countries took part. Among them were 13 grandmasters, including stars such as Lázaro Bruzon, Eduardo Iturrizaga, Cuban champion Carlos Albornoz, and many more.
Dutch GM Roeland Pruijssers (2561) won the event with 6.5/7. Second place went to the German GM Ilja Zaragatski (2522) with 6.0/7, while GM Sandro Mareco (2629) came in third with 5.5/7 and the best tie-break.
The best Guatemalan was FM Eduardo Gálvez (2209), who beat Peruvian GM José Martínez Alcántara (2620) in the last round. The best female was WCM Polina Karelina (1767) from the Bahamas with 5 points in ninth place.
Most sports have suffered during the pandemic but chess has continued to do well. And while online chess might never evoke the of over-the-board play, it has been a great alternative during these challenging times, and it helped to bring chess into the limelight.
Pruijssers won the tournament thanks to a close and somewhat lucky last round win against Mareco.
Pruijssers had to win this game to win the tournament, and with only seconds left on his clock and a difficult position on the board he now played 1.Re2?, which gave Mareco the chance to play 1...Qd6+, winning White's pawn on f6. The position is still complex but the worst for Black should be over. However, Mareco, who had even less time left than Prujssers, returned the compliment and played 1...Qc1? and lost after 2.Re1 Qc7+ 3.Kh1 Qc5 4.Qf4 a4 5.h4 Rg6 6.Bxg6 Nxg6 7.Qh6 1–0
ChessBase author Roland Pruijssers
How to slay the Sicilian Vol.1 - 2...d6
Dutch Grandmaster Roeland Pruijssers and International Master Nico Zwirs created a complete repertoire against the Sicilian that is based on the Open Sicilian and that is easy to learn.
What should Black play?
Answer: 1...Bg3+ 2.Kxg3 Rg1 3.Qxg1 Qxg1+ 4.Kh4 Qf2+ 5.Kh5 Qf3 0–1
