In this round there was a match between the oldest player, 79 year old FM Joaquín Norja Silvestre, against the youngest player of the tournament, 8 year old Elliot Maccalum from Canada, U-8 world champion. The game was won by the oldest player, FM Joaquín Norja.
Yesterday, in our daily chronicle of the V El Llobregat Open Chess Tournament, we highlighted the integrating capacity of chess. Today, we will emphasize one of its virtues as an element of social cohesion: its intergenerational vocation.
We live in accelerated times, in which the new generations live their existence in a singular way, because never before has it been so evident that time is running out of our hands. This has consequences even in the most superficial things: young people flee from conventional television after having found their place in sites like YouTube, because they offer immediacy and sense in decision making. A bit, if I may say so, in line with the progressive shortening of games in classical chess. Those who read these lines and are of a certain age, do you remember the six-hour games and adjournment? Never, as today, the generations had been so far apart. 
In this round we were visited by Manel Giraldo, Director of Alliances and Institutional Relations of AGBAR; Felipe Campos, CEO of AGBAR; and Xavier León, CEO of TRAM (on the right of the photo).
That is why we offer you this reflection: chess as a meeting point for different generations, sharing experiences and knowledge, longings and moments of defeat, dialoguing in the language that the chess players who preceded us have bequeathed us. I ask you, can you imagine competing with your children, officially, in other sports? Will those sports give you the opportunity to spend the afternoon with your grandchildren and talk about life while competing? Chess, also in this, is differential. We can infer, without fear of being wrong, that when you buy a chess board, what you really acquire is an emotional bond with your children, with your grandchildren… especially for when vital interests are opposite and it is difficult to find common spaces. The sixth round of play of the V El Llobregat Open Chess Tournament began with the traditional ringing of the bell, which on this occasion corresponded to the young talent Ruben Coles, winner of Group B in the 2023 edition. We were honored with his presence Xavier León, CEO of TRAM, Felipe Campos, CEO of AGBAR, and Manel Giraldo, director of Alliances and institutional relations of AGBAR.
Xavier León, CEO of TRAM, and Felipe Campos, CEO of AGBAR, during the traditional ringing of the bell to start the round.
Manel Giraldo, AGBAR’s Director of Alliances and Institutional Relations, also participated in the opening ceremony of the round.
In sporting terms, the draw of IM Sebastian Felipe Sanchez against GM Martin Kraemer, who could not assert his two hundred Elo points advantage in the international rankings. Javier Habans, the U-16 world champion, fulfilled the prediction by playing with the white pieces, so that in round 7 he will be defending the black pieces on the second board. Leading the provisional standings are grandmasters Ido Gorshtein and Yahli Sokolovsky, both with 5.5 points, followed by grandmaster Cristóbal Henríquez, also with 5. In Group B, Andrzej Migala, IM Piotr Dukaczewski and WIM Liliana Leszner are leading, all three with 4 points. In Group C, Javier Sanz (5), Hailey Ruth Van De Graaff (4) and Lluís Julbe (3,5) lead. The analysis of the games of this round can be consulted at https://chessbase.in/news/5th-Elllobregat-Open-2024-round-6-report-. The games live, starting at 4 pm, at the link https://www.elllobregat.com/openchess/es/.
 Enlarge |
| Board 1 of the round pitted GM Ido Gorshtein against GM Cristobal Henriquez Villagra. The game ended in a draw. |
