Photo: ACN

Caracas, April 22 (RHC)-- Pinar del Río's Lisandra Ordaz won Friday the first gold medal of the Cuban delegation attending the V ALBA Games of Venezuela 2023, by winning the absolute category in the Blitz chess modality.

Ordaz completed 7.5 points in nine games held as part of a competition that with 27 registered players was held in the halls of the Hotel Las Americas, in the Venezuelan capital.

The International Master (IM) without distinction of sexes won her first six games in a row and closed with three boards, to lead the ranking ahead of the hosts Samid Eduardo Escalona and Ronald Jesus Brizuela, both with 6.5 points.

Also representing Cuba in the competition were Oleiny Linares and Yaniela Forgas from Santiago, and Yerisbel Miranda from Pinar del Río, all members of the women's national pre-selection team.

Each of them rounded five points and after the application of the tie-breaking system, they were placed in ninth, tenth and eleventh positions, in that order.

In Blitz games, each player has a time limit of three minutes, with a two-second increment after each move.

Participants from six countries are taking part in the chess tournament of these Alba Games, whose women's segment was won by the Venezuelan Annyd Gabriela Otazo, with 7.5 units out of a possible nine.

The classical games are scheduled to begin this Saturday, with a 90-minute duration, with an additional 30 seconds after each move.

Cuban players will take part in the absolute section, which will also be played by men.