Havana: Jonas Buhl Bjerre in the footsteps of Bent Larsen

The winner of the elite group of the 56th Capablanca Memorial was Jonas Buhl Bjerre. The young Danish grandmaster defeated Rasmus Svane in the final round and finished the tournament as the only player with 7 points. Alexandr Fier, who had been leading for a long time, finished second with 6.5 points after a quick draw against Elier Miranda.

Svane, Rasmus2621

0–1

Bjerre, Jonas Buhl2606

56th Capablanca Mem Elite Havana CUB12.05.2023[Johannes Fischer]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Bxd7+ Qxd7 7.d4 cxd4 8.Qxd4 Bg7 9.0-0 0-0 10.Qd3 Rc8 11.Bd2 Na6 12.Qe2 Qc6 13.b3 Nc5 14.Rae1 e6 15.e5 Ne8 16.Rd1 a6 17.exd6 Nxd6 18.Ne5 Qe8 19.Bf4 Rd8 20.Ng4 Nf5 21.Be5 Qf8 22.Nf6+ Kh8 23.b4 Qe7 24.bxc5 Bxf6

25.g4? White is better, but this move gives the advantage away. Better was 25.Bxf6+ Qxf6 26.Ne4 e.g. Qe5 27.f4 Qg7 28.g4 Rxd1 29.Rxd1 Nd4 30.Qe3 Nc6 31.Rd7 with a clear advantage for White. 25...Bxe5 26.Qxe5+ f6 27.Qe4 Nh4 28.Nd5 Qd7

29.g5?! This leads to an endgame, in which only Black can play for a win. Better was 29.Qf4 exd5 30.Qxf6+ Qg7 31.Qxh4 g5 32.Qg3 dxc4 with a roughly equal position. 29...fxg5 30.Qe5+ Qg7 31.Qxg7+ Kxg7 32.Nc7 Rxd1 33.Rxd1 Rc8 34.Nxe6+ Kf6 35.Rd6 Nf5 36.Rb6 Rc6 37.Nc7 Rxb6 38.cxb6 Black's active king gives him a clear edge and Bjerre went on to win the endgame and the tournament. Ne7 39.Kg2 Ke5 40.Kf3 Kd6 41.Ke4 Kc5 42.Ke5 g4 43.Ke6 Nc8 44.Nxa6+ Kxc4 45.Nc7 Nxb6 46.Ne8 Na4 47.Nd6+ Kd3 48.Ke5 Ke2 49.Kf4 h5 50.Kg3 Nc5 51.h3 gxh3 52.f4 Ke3 53.Nc4+ Ke4 54.Nd6+ Kd5 55.Nc8 Ke6 56.Kxh3 Na4 57.Kh4 Kd7 58.Na7 Nc3 59.Kg5 Ne4+ 60.Kh4 Nd6 61.a4 Ke6 62.Kg5 Kf7 63.f5 gxf5 64.a5 Ke6 65.a6 bxa6 66.Nc6 Nf7+ 67.Kxh5 Kd6 68.Na5 Kd5 69.Kh4 f4 70.Kh3 Ne5 71.Kg2 Kd4 72.Kf2 Kc3 73.Nb7 Kb4 74.Nd8 a5 75.Ne6 f3 76.Ke3 a4 77.Nd4 Kc3 78.Ke4 f2 79.Ne2+ Kd2 0–1

Jonas Buhl Bjerre is the second Dane to enter the list of tournament winners after Bent Larsen in 1967.

Third place went to Luis Ernesto Quesada, who was the best Cuban in the field with 5.5 points. With 4.5 Rasmus Svane finished fourth on tiebreak, ahead of Eduardo Iturrizaga (Spain), Raunak Sadhwani (India) and Carlos Daniel Albornoz (Cuba), who also all finished with 4.5/9.

Final standing

Games

The Cuban Michel Alejandro Diaz won the Open on tiebreak, ahead of his compatriot Ernes Espinosa and the Canadian Bator Sambuev (all 8 points). Dagoberto Ibanez from Cuba won the 60+ tournament with 7.5 points after 9 rounds. Humberto Pecorelli and Pedro Rodriguez, who are also from Cuba, finished second and third respectively. Two youth tournaments were also held in the U16 and U12 age groups.

The Capablanca Memorial is held almost every year in memory of the only Cuban World Champion (1888-1942). After his success at the San Sebastian tournament 1911, José Raúl Capablanca was seen as a possible challenger of world champion Emanuel Lasker, but World War I prevented a possible World Championship match between these two. The match, which made Capablanca the third world champion in the history of chess finally took place in 1921.

Master Class Vol.4: José Raúl Capablanca

He was a child prodigy and he is surrounded by legends. In his best times he was considered to be unbeatable and by many he was reckoned to be the greatest chess talent of all time: Jose Raul Capablanca, born 1888 in Havana.

In 1927 Capablanca played Alexander Alekhine for the title in Buenos Aires and lost. Capablanca wanted a rematch with Alekhine all his life, but never got the chance. Capablanca was famous for his sound and seemingly simple play. He lost only 35 tournament games during his career while winning 302 and drawing 242.

Chess-results...