Havana, November 16 (Jit) - Cuban Alain Otero defeated Macedonian Stojan Velkoski and scored his second point out of three possible in the under-18 segment of the World Youth Chess Championship of Montesilvano 2023, in Italy.

With white pieces, the Havana native confirmed his superiority over his rival to climb to 49th place in a group of 134 contestants.

Otero, winner of the Cuban crown in this category in 2022, triumphed in his debut against Thailand's Sirawich Kusakulpiboon and suffered a setback in his next match against Russia's Konstantin Popov.

On the fourth date he will face another presumably complicated duel against Shiroghlan Talibov from Azerbaijan, who also has a couple of scores and an Elo of 2,363 points.

The Antillean came into the tournament with 2,204 points and that remains intact after the first three rounds.

Kazakhstan's Aldiyar Ansat shows the best performance thanks to the tiebreaker. He is one of seven players who have scored in the winning box in his three appearances.

The joust is scheduled for 11 rounds by the Swiss System. In addition, there are events for the U-16 and U-14 categories, and a U-18 women's section.