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The 49th Capablanca Memorial took place in Havana, Cuba from the 8th to the 18th May. Four chess24 representatives - GM Ilja Zaragatski, IM Georgios Souleidis, IM Lawrence Trent and the author of these lines - left cold Germany behind for the guaranteed heat of Cuba, where we met up with another chess24 author, Paco Vallejo, who had already spent a week acclimatising.
by IM Jose Cuenca
I’ll first give a brief account of what happened in the tournaments and then move on to the events that took place away from the chessboard.
The Capablanca Memorial was split into 3 groups. The Elite Group featured six top players: Leinier Domínguez, Vassily Ivanchuk, Wesley So, Paco Vallejo Pons, Zoltan Almasi and Lázaro Bruzón, making it a Category XIX tournament with an average Elo of 2721.
The elegantly dressed tournament winner Wesley So, sandwiched between local heroes Leinier Domínguez and Lázaro Bruzón | photo: Georgios Souleidis
The final standings were as follows:
I’d like to highlight the courage of Paco Vallejo, who after falling to -2 rejected a draw against Vassily Ivanchuk in a far-from-clear middlegame position and went on to defeat the Ukrainian genius with Black. This wasn’t Paco’s best tournament, but it’s clear he’s not lacking in fighting spirit.
Spanish no. 1 Paco Vallejo makes a TV appearance | photo: Georgios Souleidis
The Premier Group was another closed tournament that featured chess players from different countries and an average Elo of 2567.
GM Yusnel Bacallao, who on paper was expected to end up second bottom, finished top on tiebreaks. He was accompanied on the podium by Emilio Cordova and Sebastian Bogner | photo: Georgios Souleidis
Congratulations to IM Yasser Quesada, who claimed his second GM norm and is getting close to the title. The final standings were as follows:
Finally, before we get to some of the stories surrounding the tournament, let’s take a look at the Open Group. For me this is one of the world’s toughest opens.
Podium from left to right: IM Obregón, IM Gerzhoy and IM Leyva | photo: Georgios Souleidis
There are no players rated under 2200 and as there are few tournaments in Cuba all the local players enter for a rare chance to claim a norm. More than one titled European player has left 20 rating points behind on the island.
The undisputed champion of the tournament was future GM Juan Carlos Obregón Rivero, who scored 8.5/10 after beating almost every opponent in crushing fashion. Such fighting spirit will take him a long way.
I was flirting with top spot for most of the tournament but a defeat in the final round to GM Vera consigned me to 13th place.
The final standings were as follows:
As the games from the elite event have already been covered I’m going to give one of mine in which I came up with a manoeuvre which may not be good, but is at least interesting. I hope you enjoy it!
39... ♕c7 We’ve reached a critical moment in the game. For a good while I’ve been manoeuvring around without any very clear idea of how to penetrate into the enemy ranks. My opponent has been playing rapidly and I’m in mild time pressure. It’s clear that White has an edge - but how should he continue?
If White plays g4 Black can play Nf7 followed by g5, and will then have a huge square on e5. The e5-break is almost impossible. The h4-advance also looks anything but clear since it leaves a hole on g4.
Aiming for breaks, meanwhile, may end up dangerous for the white king without the queen involved. Another inconvenience is that the white queen is obliged to defend the b5-pawn, as the black queen can attack it from d7. So at the moment the queen can’t join in the attack on the kingside.
Given my natural kamikaze instincts I knew I’d try to do something, but I had no idea what. The only thing I wanted to avoid was ending up overly lost due to some unnecessary madness. Then it occurred to me - what if I put the king on c4 and bring the queen into the attack? No sooner said that done. I knew it could end badly, but it looked so interesting that I didn’t even stop to think.
40. ♖h1 ♕d7 41. ♔f2 And he's off!
41... ♖g8 42. ♔e1 ♗f8 Black realises the plan and so tries to punish the white king for its excursion by opening up the position as soon as possible.
43. ♔d1 ♕e8 44. ♔c2 g5 Here goes...
46. gxf4⁈ would allow Black to invade with 46... ♘f5 or (46... ♖g3 )
46... ♘f7
46... ♘f5 no longer works due to 47. ♗g4! with a clear advantage.
47. ♗h5 The only move in order to fight for some kind of advantage. White can't allow Black to put his knight on e5.
47... ♕d7 48. ♗xf7 White gives up the bishop pair in order to reach a position with a good bishop against a bad one.
48... ♖xf7 49. ♕a4 As the white king has already run a half marathon to get here the manoeuvre had to be completed to let him rest :)
49... ♖g6 Black looks to exchange his bad bishop.
51. ♖f2⁉ might be better, doubling rooks on the f-file to attack the f6-weakness.
51... ♗g5 52. ♔c4 The white king would be happy if his queen took up residence on b3 so he never had to move again.
52... h5 53. gxh5 ♖h6 54. h4 ♗e3
55. ♕d1 The queen joins the action now the queenside has been secured.
55... f5 56. ♖g2 Now the advantage becomes obvious. Black has opened himself up too much and the king that's in danger now is the one dwelling on h8.
56... fxe4
56... f4⁉ was safer.
57. dxe4 ♔h7? 58. ♖f1! ♕e8 59. e5
59. ♕g4 also wins.
60. ♕d3++− was stronger, and after 60... ♔h8 61. exd6 ♖xf1 62. ♗e5+ ♖ff6 63. ♕f5 d3 64. d7 Black could resign, e.g. 64... d2 65. ♖g6
61. ♕e2! was still winning for White here.
61... ♔h8 After squandering an edge of +11 according to the engines - yes, that's +11 - everything seemed bad for me here. But now I showed what I was made of, even if it involved getting a lost position first :)
62. exd6= ♖xh5 63. ♕e4 ♕f1+ 64. ♔b3 ♕xb5+ 65. ♔c2 d3+ 66. ♕xd3 ♕a4+ 67. ♔b1 ♗d4 68. ♖a2?
68. d7 ♕xd7 69. ♕g6 ♕b5+ 70. ♔c2 ♕a4+ 71. ♔d2 ♕a2+ 72. ♔d1 ♕xd5 73. ♕e8+ ♔h7 74. ♕g6+= and a draw by repetition.
68... ♕b4+ 69. ♔c2 ♖xd5? Another mistake in time trouble.
69... ♖xh4 would have given Black a decisive advantage.
70. ♕b3 The white king's fan club was crying out for an exchange of queens.
70... ♕xb3+ 71. ♔xb3 b5 72. ♖e2 ♔g7 73. ♖e7+ ♔f6 74. ♖b7 c4+ 75. ♔b4 ♗e3? Quesada is ambitious and plays to win, but Black should have taken the draw with
75... ♗c5+ 76. ♔xb5 c3 77. ♔c4 c2 78. ♔xd5 c1Q 79. ♗e5+ ♔f5 80. ♖f7+ ♔g6 81. ♖g7+ ♔h5 82. ♖c7 ♕a3 83. ♖xc5 ♕b3+= and White can't escape the checks.
76. ♖xb5 ♖xb5+ 77. ♔xb5 c3 78. d7 ♔e7 79. ♔c6 c2 80. ♗d6+ ♔e6 81. ♗a3 Stopping the pawn and ensuring victory.
81... ♗b6 82. h5 ♗d8 83. h6 ♗e7 84. ♗c1 A game that wasn't without errors, above all in time trouble, but an interesting one nevertheless. I hope you enjoyed it.
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Our reception at the hotel: swans with chess pieces | photo: Georgios Souleidis
Now we come to everything surrounding the event. This is the tournament for anyone who likes a social life and the chance to forget about the internet and the irritating sound of WhatsApp for two weeks.
The friendliness and warmth of the Cuban people are remarkable. Chess is also a very important sport in the country, and it seems 100% of the population recognise Leinier Domínguez and Lázaro Bruzón on the street.
As I’d arrived with chess24’s German and English
representatives who, you might say, have seen less of the sun than the
Congolese have the snow, a visit to the hotel pool was obligatory. Here we
bring you a jump from the diving board - I'm sure you'll agree it's hard not to be impressed...
IM Trent, GM Zaragatski and myself being entertained by the local singer "Mauri" | photo: Georgios Souleidis
Other
must dos included spending the evenings and nights sitting on the sea wall chatting to other players in the tournament while drinking and listening to
music.
“Mauri” dedicated his version of Chan Chan by Compay Segundo to us:
Another good experience is eating lobster cooked in Cuban style. One day we went to the house of “Chacho”, a friend of Paco Vallejo's since the days he came to Havana as a child. You can find some photos of the party below, where as in any Cuban celebration music and dancing weren't lacking:
Cuban lobster in Chacho’s home. Paco blessing the meal :)
Fried plantains
Cuban beans and rice
There has to be music and a party!
And here’s a short video where you can appreciate how 60-year-old Chacho can match anyone on the dance floor.
What else can you do during the Capablanca? Well, the tournament has a rest day, and we decided to go to Varadero, which is known for having the best beaches in Cuba. Here are a few photos of the ordeal we endured:
This is what you get if you take Germans to Cuba! Fortunately the rain was only a brief interlude.
It's a hard life...
A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do
Why do I live in Hamburg?
One
day after a 6-hour game Trent called to say he’d meet me in half and hour at
the front of the hotel. I got down to find nine people already jammed into a car the
size of a mini, with music at full blast. I made it 10, but somehow squeezed in.
The police stopped us, but a little bribery was enough for us to be on our way
with no problem. Don’t even ask if we were wearing seat belts!
Finally, Havana is very rich culturally. Festivals, museums and historical sites can be found on every corner of Old Havana. The theatre is of a high standard and very accessible to the entire population. We attended a Chambao concert. It was odd for someone from Granada to attend a concert by someone from Malaga in Havana – but it was certainly very good!
Here are some photos of the historical part of the city:
Old Havana
The cathedral
The bustling Obispo Street
The famous Floridita, where Hemingway used to drink his Daiquiris
A pair of Coco taxis
Some Cuban cars with the Capitol (still undergoing renovation) in the background
The Museum of the Revolution, where you can visit the tank in which Fidel entered Havana
Some chess was also played... GM Zaragatski facing IM Souleidis in the final
round, and IM Trent against WGM Sulennis Piña, who got her third IM norm.
To sum up, the Capablanca Memorial is an extremely tough tournament with plenty to see and do. Who’s up for next year?
See also:
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