Carlos Daniel Albornoz left no doubts and said goodbye with his second crown.

Havana, July 7 (RHC)-- Cuban chess player Carlos Daniel Albornoz left no doubts about his superiority and said goodbye with his second crown at the XXIV Central American and Caribbean Games of San Salvador 2023, in the Blitz modality, with stage at the Best Wester Terraza Hotel.

Cuba arrived at the premiere of this sport in these multi-sport events with four of its best players, but only the Camagüey native achieved full celebration, as a day before he was the winner in the rapid games, defending the first board.

In the most recent tournament, he accumulated 13.5 points in the 15 three-minute games for each player. His mastery was unreachable for the rest of the candidates, among which stood out the Colombian Esteban Valderrama (12 units) and the Mexican Gilberto Hernandez (11), who completed the award podium.

"I had several complex games in which I was able to impose myself in the finals, but it was a very demanding tournament," explained the Camagüey native, already part of the history of the Juego Ciencia in these regional competitions.

"It has been a magnificent experience. Being here with competitors from other sports has given me new experiences and I am very grateful for this opportunity," he added, happy for his performance.

The Cuban teams celebrated with two other awards before the curtain came down. Yaniela Forgas took the silver medal from the first table and her teammate Yerisbel Miranda will return home with the bronze conquered on the second board.

Luis Ernesto Quesada was the only Cuban outside the Blitz podium on Thursday, occupying the fourth place among the second boards, after scoring 12 of the 15 possible points.

The representation of the largest of the Antilles had previously enjoyed the coronation of Yaniela in the rapid duels, in which Yerisbel and Luis Ernesto escorted the leaders of their respective boards.

For this call, two independent competitions were established: the rapid and Blitz games. By regulation, prizes were only awarded in the individual categories.

The expected outstanding performance of the Cubans could materialize, but not with the absolute dominance that some predicted. This shows that there was quality in the contenders and how complex these specialties become, in which there is no time to make amends for any slip-up.

The three titles, three silver medals and one bronze medal represent a valuable contribution for the Cuban delegation in the midst of the battle for the second place in the medal standings.

"We know that victories escaped, that we could have had more gold medals, but that's sport. The rhythm of the game, so many games in four days, was violent," said coach Rodney Perez, who enjoyed this first experience and its results as much as his students.