Favourites prevail
Villahermosa (‘Beautiful village’) is the capital of the Mexican state of Tabasco, located in the southeast of the country. Known as ‘The Emerald of the Southeast’, the city is rich in natural resources and an important business centre for the Mexican oil industry.
The Smith-Morra Gambit (1.e4 c5 2.d4!) is a great attacking weapon against the popular Sicilian . On move two White sacrifices a pawn for fast development and good attacking chances, and Black can easily fall into one of the many devious opening traps.Despite the difficulties related to the sanitary crisis, the Mexican Chess Federation managed to organize the 66th edition of the ‘Campeonato Nacional e Internacional Abierto Mexicano’, which consisted of seven concurrent tournaments, including an International Open, a Women’s Tournament and a Seniors Tournament.
The highest-rated player in the main event, Jorge Cori from Peru, won the main event after scoring 7½/8 points in the 5-day open tournament. Cori’s single draw came in the last round, when he faced second seed Sandro Mareco (Argentina) with the black pieces. Mareco finished in sole second place despite losing his third-round game against Mexican FM Javier Benítez, rated 342 points lower than him.
Cuban GM Juan Carlos Obregón scored as many points as Mareco (6½/8), but finished third on tiebreak criteria. Third seed Cristóbal Henríquez from Chile finished on 6/8 after losing both to Cori and to Mareco — he played with the black pieces against both top seeds.
Jorge Cori knocked out Sandro Mareco in round 2 of the recent FIDE World Cup in Sochi | Photo: Eric Rosen
Final standings (top 15) - International Open
...73 players
All available games
Zenia Corrales wins the Women’s Tournament
Much like Cori in the main event, the rating favourite among the women, Zenia Corrales, won the tournament with a 7½/8 score. The player from Mexico City drew her sixth-round game against Alejandra Guerrero, from the state of Durango.
Final standings (top 10) - Women’s Tournament
| 1 |
1 |
|
WIM |
Corrales Jimenez Zenia |
MEX |
2234 |
Ciudad de Mexico |
7,5 |
0,0 |
29,5 |
35,5 |
| 2 |
5 |
|
WIM |
Guerrero Rodriguez Alejandra |
MEX |
2061 |
Dgo |
6,0 |
0,0 |
29,0 |
36,5 |
| 3 |
2 |
|
WIM |
Real Pereyra Diana Carime |
MEX |
2125 |
Yucatan |
5,5 |
0,0 |
28,5 |
36,0 |
| 4 |
11 |
|
WCM |
Avila Bautista Teresa Alejandra |
MEX |
1909 |
Ciudad de Mexico |
5,0 |
0,0 |
28,0 |
35,5 |
| 5 |
9 |
|
WNM |
Guillen Cristobal Sandra Nayeli |
MEX |
1953 |
Ipn |
5,0 |
0,0 |
26,0 |
33,5 |
| 6 |
8 |
|
WIM |
Garcia Morales Ivette Alejandra |
MEX |
2033 |
Chh |
5,0 |
0,0 |
25,5 |
31,0 |
| 7 |
4 |
|
WCM |
Avila Fraire Ameyalli |
MEX |
2066 |
Dgo |
5,0 |
0,0 |
25,0 |
32,5 |
| 8 |
15 |
|
|
Ruiz Villalba Andrea |
MEX |
1803 |
Chihuahua |
5,0 |
0,0 |
25,0 |
30,5 |
| 9 |
12 |
|
WCM |
Santiago Gonzalez Frida |
MEX |
1901 |
Unam |
5,0 |
0,0 |
23,5 |
29,5 |
| 10 |
3 |
|
WIM |
Mendez Tovar Yessica Yissel |
MEX |
2080 |
Veracruz |
5,0 |
0,0 |
23,5 |
28,5 |
...32 players
All available games
The aim of this course is to help you understand how to make tactical opportunities arise as well as to sharpen your tactical vision - these selected lectures will help to foster your overall tactical understanding.
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