Marinha Grande – start of the Portugese chess year
Report by Nicholas Lanier
The chess season in Portugal begins with a rapid chess team championship in
the "glass city" of Marinha Granda, a third up the west coast of the
country. The event was held for the 19th time and organised by the club Sport
Operario Marinhense. It is well attended, even though the winner is clear before
the tournament begins.

The industrial town of Marinha Grande located in the middle of a national pine
forest, planted in medieval times by Portuguese monarchs, and near exquisite
beaches such as Praia da Vieira, Nazaré, and São Pedro de Moel.
For many centuries it has been known for its glass products, and even today
you can see glass artisans everywhere in the town center. Marinha Grande is
also the European capital for the moulding industry, with 250 companies in operation.
The population is 30,000.
For the chess community Marinha Grande means big team tournaments, which everyone
attends as a warm-up for the coming chess season. It is also a social gathering
where you meet old friends and opponents, where chess players dine together
and enjoy evening entertainment.

The very active president of the Lisbon Chess Federation is Armanda Placido,
here with her US-born husband Rex Blalock

Three generations of Portuguese chess players: GM Luis Galego, IMs Joaquim Durao,
Diogo Fernando

The President of the Portuguese Chess Federation Antonio Bravo
Zé Nogueira, the manager of the dominating Vale de Cambra team

FM Ruben Pereira came second in the Youth
World Championship
last November in Turkey in the U-16 group

Bianca Albano Jeremias, 18, German-Portuguese chess talent

A young chess enthusiast Portuguese style
The team championship 2008 is under way

A tactical endgame attracts attention

Vitor Cordeiro, the initiator of the tournament, and local player Jose Bray

Taking a breather in the courtyard

The winning team from Vale de Cambra
A total of 43 teams, each consisting of four players, took part in the competition.
The winner was the same as in previous years: the ACR Vale de Cambra, led by
GM Luis Galego. The team won all their matches and scored 30½ of 36 possible
points. Second was Barreirense A (with IM Sergio Rocha and IM Rui Damaso) and
AAC Amadora (with Youth World Champion runner up FM Ruben Pereira).

Top Portugese players
No. |
Name |
Title |
Fed |
Rating |
G |
B-Year |
1 |
Galego, Luis |
GM |
POR |
2529 |
22 |
1966 |
2 |
Damaso, Rui |
IM |
POR |
2449 |
9 |
1968 |
3 |
Fernando, Diogo |
IM |
POR |
2448 |
9 |
1980 |
4 |
Dias, Paulo |
FM |
POR |
2446 |
19 |
1979 |
5 |
Pereira, Ruben |
FM |
POR |
2423 |
20 |
1991 |
6 |
Santos, Carlos Pereira dos |
IM |
POR |
2418 |
0 |
1972 |
7 |
Rocha, Sergio |
IM |
POR |
2412 |
0 |
1972 |
8 |
Fernandes, Antonio |
GM |
POR |
2408 |
9 |
1962 |
9 |
Santos, Luis |
IM |
POR |
2393 |
0 |
1955 |
10 |
Vitor, Antonio |
FM |
POR |
2376 |
30 |
1975 |
11 |
Frois, Antonio |
IM |
POR |
2368 |
25 |
1962 |
12 |
Silva, Fernando |
IM |
POR |
2353 |
1 |
1950 |
13 |
Nogueira, Nelson |
IM |
POR |
2321 |
0 |
1969 |
14 |
Pinheiro, Jose |
FM |
POR |
2318 |
18 |
1964 |
15 |
Santos, Antonio P |
|
POR |
2294 |
9 |
1956 |
16 |
Andrade, Jose M Vieira |
FM |
POR |
2290 |
9 |
1978 |
 |
Links
|