Antón and García both win national titles for a second time in their careers
GM David Antón Guijarro and IM Marta García Martín emerged as the winners of the 2025 Spanish Chess Championship, claiming the Absolute and Women's titles respectively. For both players, it was their second national crown.
The championship took place from 11 to 19 December at the Alanda Marbella Hotel and was contested as a nine-round Swiss with a field of 100 players. Men and women competed together, but final standings and titles were awarded separately by gender.
In this video course, Grandmaster Ivan Sokolov explores the fascinating world of King’s Indian and Pirc structures with colours reversed, often arising from the French or Sicilian.
The King’s Indian Defence is one of the most dynamic openings in chess - and Pirc structures share much of the same DNA. With colours reversed (the King’s Indian Attack), these setups can be just as powerful. What may look modest at first often transforms into highly complex middlegames, where timing, precision, and a deep feel for dynamics make all the difference.
Free video sample: Introduction
Free video sample: Misplaced Pieces
Antón, the top seed, set the pace from the outset, opening the tournament with six consecutive victories and effectively deciding the outcome early. He confirmed first place with a round to spare and finished on 8 points out of 9, posting a Tournament Performance Rating of 2797 and gaining 13.7 Elo points. The 30-year-old, also known as "el niño" had first won the national championship at the 2020 edition in Linares.
Behind the winner, the battle for the remaining podium places was very tight. Seven players ended the event on 6½/9, with GM Jaime Santos Latasa taking silver and IM Daniel Alsina Leal securing bronze on Buchholz tiebreaks. A notable feature of the final standings was that all three medallists completed the tournament without a single defeat.
In the women's classification, García Martín and WFM Inés Prado Acebo both scored 5½/9, with García taking the title on tiebreaks. The decisive final round saw Prado, who had led the women's standings alone going into the day, lose to Bernardo César Maestre after mishandling a queen endgame that should have held. García capitalised by defeating Maximilian Truter with the black pieces, while defending champion Sabrina Vega, a nine-time national winner, drew from a worse position against Darío Arce to finish third on 5/9.

The 2025 Spanish chess champions alongside organisers and authorities | Photo: FEDA
Antón Guijarro 1-0 Pérez Candelario
In this course, we will learn how to identify passively placed pieces in any given situation and how to improve their health by bringing them into active squares.

David Antón facing Inés Acebedo in the first round | Photo: FEDA
García Martín 1-0 Rodríguez Redondo
EXPAND YOUR CHESS HORIZONS
Data, plans, practice – the new Opening Report In ChessBase there are always attempts to show the typical plans of an opening variation. In the age of engines, chess is much more concrete than previously thought. But amateurs in particular love openings with clear plans, see the London System. In ChessBase ’26, three functions deal with the display of plans. The new opening report examines which piece moves or pawn advances are significant for each important variation. In the reference search you can now see on the board where the pieces usually go. If you start the new Monte Carlo analysis, the board also shows the most common figure paths.

The women's podium: Inés Acebedo, Marta García and Sabrina Vega | Photo: FEDA
Final standings
|
|
|
Name |
Points |
TB1 |
Rating |
| 1 |
GM |
m |
Anton Guijarro, David |
8.0 |
2476 |
2446 |
| 2 |
GM |
m |
Santos Latasa, Jaime |
6.5 |
2449 |
2393 |
| 3 |
GM |
m |
Alsina Leal, Daniel |
6.5 |
2418 |
2382 |
| 4 |
IM |
m |
Garcia Ramos, Daniel |
6.5 |
2410 |
2415 |
| 5 |
GM |
m |
Pichot, Alan |
6.5 |
2402 |
2321 |
| 6 |
IM |
m |
Cesar Maestre, Bernardo |
6.5 |
2324 |
2311 |
| 7 |
FM |
m |
Masague Artero, Guerau |
6.5 |
2323 |
2357 |
| 8 |
FM |
m |
Prieto Aranguren, Alain |
6.5 |
2302 |
2288 |
| 9 |
GM |
m |
Perez Candelario, Manuel |
6.0 |
2446 |
2388 |
| 10 |
IM |
m |
Tejedor Fuente, Enrique |
6.0 |
2409 |
2371 |
| 11 |
GM |
m |
Alonso Rosell, Alvar |
6.0 |
2405 |
2373 |
| 12 |
IM |
m |
Macias Pino, Diego |
6.0 |
2367 |
2366 |
| 13 |
IM |
m |
Vergara Anton, Diego |
6.0 |
2362 |
2295 |
| 14 |
GM |
m |
Cuenca Jimenez, Jose Fernando |
6.0 |
2355 |
2313 |
| 15 |
IM |
m |
Ayats Llobera, Gerard |
6.0 |
2328 |
2333 |
| 16 |
FM |
m |
Horcajuelo Rocamora, Martin |
6.0 |
2311 |
2326 |
| 17 |
IM |
m |
Llorente Zaro, Alfonso |
6.0 |
2282 |
2280 |
| 18 |
FM |
m |
Marin Ferragut, Pau |
5.5 |
2401 |
2373 |
| 19 |
FM |
m |
Sierra Vallina, Lionel |
5.5 |
2357 |
2363 |
| 20 |
IM |
m |
Ladron De Guevara Pinto, Paolo |
5.5 |
2350 |
2250 |
| 21 |
FM |
m |
Krauchi Romero, Martin |
5.5 |
2284 |
2264 |
| 22 |
FM |
m |
Carrascoso Morales, Abel |
5.5 |
2282 |
2270 |
| 23 |
IM |
m |
Medarde Santiago, Luis Marcos |
5.5 |
2269 |
2236 |
| 24 |
CM |
m |
Calvo Gonzalez, Jose Felix |
5.5 |
2258 |
2255 |
| 25 |
IM |
f |
Garcia Martin, Marta |
5.5 |
2256 |
2214 |
| 26 |
FM |
m |
Martin Rueda, Daniel |
5.5 |
2254 |
2266 |
| 27 |
WFM |
f |
Prado Acebo, Ines |
5.5 |
2235 |
2276 |
| 28 |
IM |
m |
Merario Alarcon, Andres |
5.0 |
2393 |
2392 |
| 29 |
IM |
m |
Suarez Uriel, Adrian |
5.0 |
2391 |
2389 |
| 30 |
IM |
m |
Prado Lobo, Jonas |
5.0 |
2335 |
2288 |
...100 players
All available games
Links