Canarian chess player Sabrina Vega Gutiérrez (@SabrinaVegaGut2, 2180) has brilliantly won the Women’s Blitz of the IV El Llobregat Open Chess, winning each of the seven rounds of play. The tournament, refereed by AI Hernán Siludakis, was very close, with great combativeness on the part of the players. Seven international titlists participated, out of a total of 14 contenders. At stake, a prize purse of 3,150 €, of which the winner would get 500 €.
The brilliant undefeated champion, Sabrina Vega Gutiérrez. Photo: Patricia Claros Aguilar (@Patriciaajedrez).
At the suggestion of El Llobregat, Sabrina has been kind enough to share her experience with us. It is a luxury to interview her, she has been 7 times champion of Spain!
– How have your feelings been in the Blitz?– I went in a little tired, this rhythm demands good freshness of mind (I don’t have much practice in Blitz and my reflexes, therefore, are not fast). I’m terrible at this rhythm! However, I was getting good positions. This is very encouraging, it helped me to take the lead in the tournament.
– At what point did you see yourself with a clear chance of victory?– I started as first in the ranking and aspired to win, although, as I said, Blitz is a rhythm that makes me go game by game. As 7 rounds is not too many, I soon gained confidence by winning matches.
– What message would you like to send to girls who practice chess at school and hesitate to take the step to federate?– Chess is an exciting world: they will discover things that will stay with them forever. If you like reading and history, you will develop universes to explore in each game. I would tell them to take heart, not to get discouraged if the results do not go well at first: it is a life adventure. What really permeates our game is the atmosphere, the fellowship, which is very deep in chess.
Tournament rules at https://www.elllobregat.com/openchess/es/regulaciones/blitz-femenino/
