Habans, the young chess player from Navarre who was crowned U-16 world champion in Brazil, will play the 5th edition of the Llobregat Open Chess Tournament.
By Jorge I. Aguadero Casado, Editor-in-Chief of Peón de Rey
Under-16 chess world champion in Florianópolis (Brazil)! Those of us who have been following the sporting career of Javier Habans (2008) had reason to hope that, at any moment, the young talent from Navarre would give a knockout blow that would make the chess bells ring loudly. It seemed that sometimes the great victories slipped through his fingers, perhaps because of a certain tendency to conservatism in his game, although this has to be understood with a well-defined red line: everything that kids like Javier give us is a blessing. So, in a few days we will enjoy him again among the participants of the Llobregat Open Chess Tournament (from November 29 to December 8). In the curriculum of the young chess player stood out the fourth place in the European U-8 in Prague, the gold in the European U-18 rapid, the bronze in the U-16 blitz and eleven titles of champion of Spain in different modalities and ages. This curriculum outline is easier to reference than to give it shape on the boards, perhaps a sample of the road paved with lotus flowers that the chosen ones have to travel in their ascent to professionalism. However, tigers lurk at the bends in the road. The main obstacle that young talent must face is the seduction of choosing between their dreams of becoming an athlete or continuing their studies. There is an intermediate way, which many end up choosing, which is to be a semi-professional, making chess competition a complement both in the personal and economic training. For most of them it is the best way, since life itself is taking them away from the great goals. There is, so to speak, a current that is directing the rudder of the ship to settle in calm waters. But what about young people like Javier? Winning a world championship is the exception. It can be argued that in the case of Javier, some favorites missed the Florianópolis appointment, but in truth there are many who are called and only one is the chosen one, giving the fine finish to the work sustained for a long time. This can be attested by his mentor, the great master Jesús De la Villa, who will have made it clear to him, actively and passively, that to be a professional player it is not enough to win a World Junior Championship, but he would have to consolidate himself among the hundred best in the absolute world. De la Villa is an expert in these matters (in fact, I can think of few names as knowledgeable as him) and I am sure that he weighs his understandable dreams of champion with his strength at the board (who would not lose some perspective conquering a world title… of anything? You? Me? I, of course, would lose the north, if I did not have someone like De la Villa by my side). We leave you with a game of the new U-16 world champion, a draw that in the end turned out to be decisive, but not before sharing with you some words that Javier Habans father was kind enough to share with El Llobregat: “(…) These days we are a bit overwhelmed with so many messages of congratulations and attending to the media. In addition, Javier has returned to school and has to make up for the two weeks lost in the World Cup, and in the next few days he has the exams of the 1st evaluation”. As I have been saying, the athlete who has a good environment has a treasure.
