Havana: Jonas Buhl Bjerre in the footsteps of Bent Larsen

by André Schulz
5/16/2023 – The young Danish grandmaster Jonas Buhl Bjerre won the Capablanca Memorial in Havana by defeating Rasmus Svane in the final round. It is the second victory by a Dane in the series since Larsen's victory in 1967. | Photo: German Chess Federation
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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.

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

Rk. Name Pts.  Tb1 
1 Bjerre, Jonas Buhl 7 0
2 Fier, Alexandr 6,5 0
3 Quesada Perez, Luis Ernesto 5,5 0
4 Svane, Rasmus 4,5 1,5
5 Iturrizaga Bonelli, Eduardo 4,5 1,5
Sadhwani, Raunak 4,5 1,5
7 Albornoz Cabrera, Carlos Daniel 4,5 1,5
8 Almeida Quintana, Omar 3 0
9 Martinez Duany, Lelys Stanley 2,5 0,5
10 Miranda Mesa, Elier 2,5 0,5

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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Rg1 g6 7.g4 Nc6 8.g5 Nd7 9.h4 h5 10.Be3 Bg7 11.Be2 Nde5 12.Qd2 0-0 13.0-0-0 Qa5 14.Nb3 Qd8 15.Nd5 b5 16.f4 Nc4 17.Bxc4 bxc4 18.Nd4 Bb7 19.f5 Nxd4 20.Bxd4 Bxd4 21.Qxd4 Rc8 22.Nc3 Qa5 23.f6 Rfe8 24.fxe7 Rxe7 25.Qxd6 Rce8 26.Rge1 Re6 27.Qf4 Bc6 28.Rf1 R6e7 29.Rd6 Qc5 30.Rf6 Bxe4 31.Rxf7 Bf5 32.Rxe7 Rxe7 33.Rd1 Qe3+ 34.Qxe3 Rxe3 35.Rd4 Re1+ 36.Kd2 Rh1 37.Rxc4 Rh2+ 38.Ke3 Rxc2 39.b4 Kf7 40.Kd4 Ke8 41.a4 Kd7 42.Ke5 Rc1 43.Rd4+ Kc6 44.Rd6+ Kb7 45.Nd5 Re1+ 46.Kf6 Rd1 47.a5 Ka7 48.Rd8 Kb7 49.Ke5 Re1+ 50.Kd6 Re4 51.Rg8 Rxh4 52.Rg7+ Kb8 53.Ne7 Be4 54.Kc5 Bg2 55.b5 axb5 56.Kb6 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Fier,A2599Albornoz Cabrera,C25861–02023B9056th Capablanca Mem Elite1.1
Quesada Perez,L2562Miranda Mesa,E25151–02023D0256th Capablanca Mem Elite1.2
Iturrizaga Bonelli,E2637Almeida Quintana,O25261–02023A0156th Capablanca Mem Elite1.3
Bjerre,J2606Sadhwani,R2627½–½2023B4056th Capablanca Mem Elite1.4
Martinez Duany,L2531Svane,R2621½–½2023C8856th Capablanca Mem Elite1.5
Albornoz Cabrera,C2586Svane,R2621½–½2023C0756th Capablanca Mem Elite2.1
Sadhwani,R2627Martinez Duany,L25311–02023B3656th Capablanca Mem Elite2.2
Almeida Quintana,O2526Bjerre,J26060–12023A4556th Capablanca Mem Elite2.3
Miranda Mesa,E2515Iturrizaga Bonelli,E2637½–½2023B4256th Capablanca Mem Elite2.4
Fier,A2599Quesada Perez,L25621–02023B1256th Capablanca Mem Elite2.5
Quesada Perez,L2562Albornoz Cabrera,C2586½–½2023E0456th Capablanca Mem Elite3.1
Iturrizaga Bonelli,E2637Fier,A25990–12023E6256th Capablanca Mem Elite3.2
Bjerre,J2606Miranda Mesa,E25151–02023B1156th Capablanca Mem Elite3.3
Martinez Duany,L2531Almeida Quintana,O25260–12023B0756th Capablanca Mem Elite3.4
Svane,R2621Sadhwani,R2627½–½2023D7356th Capablanca Mem Elite3.5
Albornoz Cabrera,C2586Sadhwani,R2627½–½2023B4856th Capablanca Mem Elite4.1
Almeida Quintana,O2526Svane,R2621½–½2023E1256th Capablanca Mem Elite4.2
Miranda Mesa,E2515Martinez Duany,L2531½–½2023C4456th Capablanca Mem Elite4.3
Fier,A2599Bjerre,J2606½–½2023C4256th Capablanca Mem Elite4.4
Quesada Perez,L2562Iturrizaga Bonelli,E26371–02023D3756th Capablanca Mem Elite4.5
Iturrizaga Bonelli,E2637Albornoz Cabrera,C2586½–½2023E0656th Capablanca Mem Elite5.1
Bjerre,J2606Quesada Perez,L25621–02023A1556th Capablanca Mem Elite5.2
Martinez Duany,L2531Fier,A2599½–½2023B1156th Capablanca Mem Elite5.3
Svane,R2621Miranda Mesa,E25151–02023D1556th Capablanca Mem Elite5.4
Sadhwani,R2627Almeida Quintana,O25261–02023B0656th Capablanca Mem Elite5.5
Albornoz Cabrera,C2586Almeida Quintana,O25261–02023B0156th Capablanca Mem Elite6.1
Miranda Mesa,E2515Sadhwani,R2627½–½2023B4656th Capablanca Mem Elite6.2
Fier,A2599Svane,R2621½–½2023C5056th Capablanca Mem Elite6.3
Quesada Perez,L2562Martinez Duany,L25311–02023A5656th Capablanca Mem Elite6.4
Iturrizaga Bonelli,E2637Bjerre,J2606½–½2023E0156th Capablanca Mem Elite6.5
Bjerre,J2606Albornoz Cabrera,C25861–02023B9056th Capablanca Mem Elite7.1
Martinez Duany,L2531Iturrizaga Bonelli,E26370–12023B3156th Capablanca Mem Elite7.2
Svane,R2621Quesada Perez,L2562½–½2023A3556th Capablanca Mem Elite7.3
Sadhwani,R2627Fier,A25990–12023D3156th Capablanca Mem Elite7.4
Almeida Quintana,O2526Miranda Mesa,E2515½–½2023D1456th Capablanca Mem Elite7.5
Albornoz Cabrera,C2586Miranda Mesa,E25151–02023B1256th Capablanca Mem Elite8.1
Fier,A2599Almeida Quintana,O2526½–½2023B0656th Capablanca Mem Elite8.2
Quesada Perez,L2562Sadhwani,R26271–02023A2156th Capablanca Mem Elite8.3
Iturrizaga Bonelli,E2637Svane,R2621½–½2023D3756th Capablanca Mem Elite8.4
Bjerre,J2606Martinez Duany,L2531½–½2023B3556th Capablanca Mem Elite8.5
Martinez Duany,L2531Albornoz Cabrera,C2586½–½2023B5056th Capablanca Mem Elite9.1
Svane,R2621Bjerre,J26060–12023B5256th Capablanca Mem Elite9.2
Sadhwani,R2627Iturrizaga Bonelli,E2637½–½2023B1256th Capablanca Mem Elite9.3
Almeida Quintana,O2526Quesada Perez,L2562½–½2023A4656th Capablanca Mem Elite9.4
Miranda Mesa,E2515Fier,A2599½–½2023B2356th Capablanca Mem Elite9.5

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.

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...

André Schulz started working for ChessBase in 1991 and is an editor of ChessBase News.
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