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The American Women's Continental Championship was scheduled to take place at the end of the last year but for various reasons it was pushed further for the end of February (19-28). The host of the event was Lima, the capital of Peru.
Peru enjoys a burst of popularity in chess. It is not only the top GM Granda Zuniga who increased that interest. The famous family Cori is perhaps the main culprit. Jorge Cori recently joined the 2600+ club, while his sister Deysi was the top seed in Lima. It is not uncommon to see chess players on the TV. One of the days while I was walking around I saw an ad that featured Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Leo Messi and the Cori family.
Alexandra Estrada vs. Ashritha Esrawan
Peruvian kids do extremely well at the continental championship and as far as I am concerned usually succeed to win plenty of medals in almost all the age groups, as well as the team trophy. They are very successful at the world championships as well.
Perhaps this has something to do with the name of the president of their chess federation - Boris Ascue. Who incidentally happens to be named after the tenth world champion.
The venue was a hall inside the national stadium, downtown Lima. On a couple of occasions there were football matches and the ladies had to play their games in the morning. A total of thirty eight women competed for the medals and a spot for the knock-out Women's World Championship. Rating favourite was Deysi Cori, but at round seven the organizers announced that she already has a place at the Cup, thus freeing one more spot for one of the remaining participants.
Ingris Rivera
Cori justified her top position and was in the lead for almost all the tournament. However, she managed to pull the win only in the final two rounds. In real roller-coaster in which she could have easily lost both the games, she managed to show nerves of steel and outplay both her opponents (M.Zuriel from Argentina and country fellow Paula Paredes Bustamante) to win the tournament outright with 7.5/9.
The second place and the major price of the event went to the experienced Maritza Arribas from Cuba. Despite some hesitant games at the beginning she managed to achieve an excellent 7.0/9. A nice plus five score without any losses. Especially convincing was her final effort against Beatriz Franco Valencia from Colombia. By the way Beatriz and her twin sister Angela had a great tournament and if it was not the final unfortunate round they could have taken one of the very top places.
Miriam Parkhurst, México
Peng vs. Abrahamyan
It happened so that my student Ashritha Eswaran was the one to defeat Angela in the final round to win the bronze medal. Angela deviated from a perpetual check but got her king into a mating net and this was everything. Ashritha had an excellent tournament with only one loss to her country-fellow Tatev Abrahamyan (who finished fifth). A third place in such a strong tournament is a great achievement for someone who had turned fifteen only recently.
One more player tied for the fourth place. This was the Argentinean WIM Maria Florencia Fernandez who recovered from a very poor start (1.5/4).
| # | Fav. | País | Título | Nombre | FED | Rtg | Puntos | Des1 | Des2 | Des3 |
| 1 | 1 |
|
WGM | Cori T. Deysi | PER | 2430 | 7,5 | 0,0 | 2279 | 50,5 |
| 2 | 2 |
|
WGM | Arribas Robaina Maritza | CUB | 2333 | 7,0 | 0,0 | 2231 | 51,0 |
| 3 | 15 |
|
WIM | Eswaran Ashritha | USA | 2149 | 6,5 | 0,0 | 2178 | 45,0 |
| 4 | 5 |
|
WIM | Fernandez Maria Florencia | ARG | 2264 | 6,5 | 0,0 | 2068 | 41,5 |
| 5 | 3 |
|
WGM | Abrahamyan Tatev | USA | 2324 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 2211 | 48,5 |
| 6 | 9 |
|
WIM | Franco Valencia Angela | COL | 2197 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 2157 | 48,5 |
| 7 | 21 |
|
Zarate Oyague Flor De Maria | PER | 1924 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 2113 | 42,5 | |
| 8 | 17 |
|
WFM | Paredes Bustamante Paula Eliz | PER | 2096 | 5,5 | 0,0 | 2218 | 49,5 |
| 9 | 14 |
|
WGM | Franco Valencia Beatriz Irene | COL | 2153 | 5,5 | 0,0 | 2154 | 47,5 |
| 10 | 4 |
|
WIM | Zuriel Marisa | ARG | 2295 | 5,5 | 0,0 | 2151 | 50,0 |
| 11 | 6 |
|
WIM | Rivera Ingris | COL | 2262 | 5,5 | 0,0 | 2026 | 42,5 |
| 12 | 13 |
|
WIM | Perez Rodriguez Jennifer | PAR | 2155 | 5,0 | 0,0 | 2173 | 47,5 |
| 13 | 19 |
|
WIM | Fuentes Godoy Lilia Ivonne | MEX | 2062 | 5,0 | 0,0 | 2131 | 42,5 |
| 14 | 18 |
|
WFM | Dominguez Laura Lucia | COL | 2078 | 5,0 | 0,0 | 2026 | 43,0 |
| 15 | 12 |
|
WFM | Aliaga Fernandez Ingrid Y | PER | 2173 | 5,0 | 0,0 | 2007 | 45,0 |
| 16 | 7 |
|
WIM | Castrillon Gomez Melissa | COL | 2215 | 5,0 | 0,0 | 1944 | 38,0 |
| 17 | 20 |
|
WIM | Besso Guadalupe | ARG | 1996 | 4,5 | 0,0 | 2104 | 44,0 |
| 18 | 10 |
|
WIM | Martinez Ayelen | ARG | 2193 | 4,5 | 0,0 | 2049 | 48,0 |
| 19 | 23 |
|
WIM | Caballero Quijano Mitzy Mishe | PER | 1909 | 4,5 | 0,0 | 2046 | 37,5 |
| 20 | 25 |
|
WFM | Parkhurst Casas Miriam | MEX | 1884 | 4,5 | 0,0 | 1937 | 36,0 |
| 21 | 29 |
|
WFM | Garcia Contreras Ana | PER | 1759 | 4,5 | 0,0 | 1927 | 39,0 |
| 22 | 31 |
|
Dongo Melanie | PER | 1741 | 4,5 | 0,0 | 1912 | 36,0 | |
| 23 | 8 |
|
WIM | Chumpitaz Ann | PER | 2209 | 4,5 | 0,0 | 1905 | 39,5 |
| 24 | 16 |
|
WIM | Orozco Lina Yomayra | COL | 2118 | 4,0 | 0,0 | 1957 | 44,0 |
| 25 | 26 |
|
Solis Chimoy Blanca | PER | 1869 | 4,0 | 0,0 | 1935 | 40,5 | |
| 26 | 22 |
|
WIM | Peng Jackie | CAN | 1922 | 4,0 | 0,0 | 1874 | 39,0 |
| 27 | 11 |
|
WGM | Heredia Serrano Carla | ECU | 2185 | 4,0 | 0,0 | 1818 | 31,5 |
| 28 | 30 |
|
Cosme Contreras Trilce | PER | 1757 | 4,0 | 0,0 | 1767 | 36,5 | |
| 29 | 35 |
|
Bohorquez Canizares Maria | ECU | 1574 | 3,5 | 1,0 | 1686 | 30,0 | |
| 30 | 24 |
|
Arias Cango Nathaly | ECU | 1888 | 3,5 | 0,0 | 1543 | 28,5 | |
| 31 | 27 |
|
WCM | Rodriguez Sofia | COL | 1794 | 3,0 | 0,0 | 1840 | 35,5 |
| 32 | 33 |
|
Mostacero Velarde Isabella | PER | 1705 | 3,0 | 0,0 | 1817 | 41,5 | |
| 33 | 36 |
|
Oncoy Custodio Shantal Tania | PER | 1510 | 3,0 | 0,0 | 1719 | 38,5 | |
| 34 | 37 |
|
Francia Arzapalo Gianella | PER | 1486 | 3,0 | 0,0 | 1624 | 31,0 | |
| 35 | 28 |
|
WFM | Romero Antonella | PER | 1781 | 2,5 | 1,0 | 1799 | 36,5 |
| 36 | 32 |
|
WFM | Bocangel Chavez Marjoire J. | PER | 1708 | 2,5 | 0,0 | 1496 | 29,5 |
| 37 | 34 |
|
Estrada Cantaro Alexandra Fio | PER | 1635 | 2,0 | 0,0 | 1540 | 33,5 | |
| 38 | 38 |
|
Pescoran Machaca Mariabelen I | PER | 1299 | 1,0 | 0,0 | 1223 | 30,0 |
The game of the tournament, at least for me was played in round one. Ann Chumpitaz did not do well at the tournament but it was worth it if she can produce at least one game like that in her life. Judge for yourselves:
Marisa Zuriel
Closing speech
The winner: Deysi Cori
Ashritha Eswaran became third
Teacher and pupil: Dejan Bojkov and Ashritha Eswaran
Tatev Abrahamyan
The youngest participant
The participants
The Peruvians
Dejan Bojkov with a view of Lima!
Tatev Abrahamyan and Dejan Bojkov
The Presidential Palace
Chinatown
One of the three rivers running through Lima.
The grave of Francisco Pizarro
Once again I was impressed by south America. Lima is the third largest city at the continent with population of ten million people. Nicely situated between three rivers and the Pacific ocean it has everything. Wonderful parks, churches, beaches, night life and above all people.
If you have a chance to visit this beautiful city look for Plaza Mayor, the Monastery of San Francisco, Museo Larco, the Historic center and the Barranco and Miraflores districts.
Do not miss a chance to taste the local delicacies - ceviche and guinea pig as well as the rich fruits salads and juices as well as the exotic drinks - chicha morada and pisco.
Diego Cuellar, Dejan Bojkov and Ulises Cuellar
A special thanks to Mr. Ulises Cuellar who did everything he could (and even beyond that) to make us feel comfortable and at home in Peru!
Tournament site..
