The draws were again the keynote of a day marked by the pressure and the proximity of the last round on Wednesday, in which the championship will be decided. So far, the two leading players, India’s Arjun Erigaisi and SL Narayanan have drawn their respective games with Spain’s Salvador Del Rio and Poland’s Mateusz Bartel. Their closest pursuers, however, have also drawn in their clashes, so the dominance of the two Indians will continue for at least one more day. Iceland’s Gudmundur Kjartansson, who was in a good position to take the lead after the two leaders had a puncture, ended up making a draw with the young Israeli Evgeny Zanan, another of those who also aspired to give a blow to the Indian domination.
The great Spanish hope, Àlvar Alonso, who also had a golden opportunity to be among the first, has fallen to Harshit Raja, whose victory reaches the noble zone and sneaks into the burning of possible winners. Also making it into the VIP club was young D. Gukesh, who beat Cyrus Low. On the other hand, Venkataraman Karthik and Rithvik Raja made life impossible for each other and also ended in a draw. Another Spaniard, Daniel Alsina, the other Spanish player in the standings along with Alonso, finished in a draw in his game against Abhimanyu Puranik, with whom he was tied in the standings.
Pepe Cuenca and ‘el Divis’ Martínez will entertain the championship.
With two days to go until the end of the first El Llobregat Open Chess, fans are already waiting for the arrival of two chess masters who will visit El Prat to broadcast live what happens in the last and decisive day on Wednesday. They are Pepe Cuenca and ‘el Divis’ Martínez, two authentic chess showmen who are able to narrate it as if it were a Champions League semifinal at Anfield Road. They will do so on a set set up at CEM Estruch itself, where they will welcome anyone who wants to come and meet them. In fact, there are surprises and a prize draw for those who come to the studio to meet them and participate in the broadcast.
Chess as an educational tool
This first edition of El Llobregat Open Chess is highlighting the importance of chess to improve the results of students in schools. In this sense, today there has been a talk at the Palmira Domènech civic center by Josep Serra, vice-president of the Catalan Chess Federation. He was accompanied by Piedad Bodelón, director of the Jaume Balmes school, where the ‘Escacs a l’escola’ program has been implemented for five years, and Carme Saurina, from the Observatori d’Escacs de la Universitat de Girona. After the conference, the three visited CEM Estruch to see how the competition was developing.
About Llobregat Open Chess
The Llobregat Open Chess is an international chess tournament held from December 3 to 11 at the CEM Estruch in El Prat de Llobregat. It has more than 200 registered participants from some forty countries around the world. Among the best players in the tournament, the presence of international and Spanish champions stands out, such as Karen Movsziszian, Armenian and World Veteran Champion with an ELO of 2,491 points; D. Gukesh, from India, U12 World Champion and second youngest Grandmaster in history with a FIDE average of 2,520 points; or Gabriel del Río, absolute champion of Spain and with an ELO of 2,478.520 points; or Gabriel del Rio, absolute champion of Spain and with an ELO of 2,478, in addition to the French Maxime Lagarde, champion of France, and Edouard Romain, with titles of European and French champion to his credit and an ELO of 2,651. Among the Spanish participants is the very young Diego Vergara, U12 state champion with an ELO of 2,138.
