Havana, January 2 (JIT) -- Carlos Daniel Albornoz opens the year 2024 by returning to the group with more than 2,600 Elo points in the world chess ranking, updated this Monday and valid during January.
The Camagüey native appears with 2,603 units in the classic games modality, the highest figure among the Cuban players and only two points away from equaling his personal top registered in September 2022.
The two-time Cuban champion had four points added to his December accumulated, thanks to his reign in the recent XXXIII Carlos Torre International Chess Tournament in Memoriam 2023.
Although he got some points in his last incursions in Europe, the 1.5 rounded up in the Aztec event allowed him to surpass the 2,600 barrier and start the season in the 186th place of the universal ranking.
In the file of the Grand Master of Chess from Agramontino, the 2023 box was closed with 2,611 Elo units in the rapid games modality and 2,533 in Blitz.
Cuba's top five is completed by Yasser Quesada (2,578 Elo points), Yusnel Bacallao (2,567), Luis Ernesto Quesada (2,560) and Reinier Vazquez (2,517), the latter returning to the Cuban federation after representing Spain for several years.
Lisandra Ordaz, from Pinar del Río, has the best position of a woman in the domestic ranking without distinction of sex, occupying 61st place with a harvest of 2,310 points, four more than in the previous update.
CARLSEN WITH NO SCARES AT THE TOP
The Norwegian Margnus Carlsen, who just two days ago was ratified as world champion in rapid and blitz games, kept intact his Elo coefficient of 2,830 in the classical games, to dominate without pressure the ranking of the International Chess Federation (Fide).
His closest pursuer is the American Fabiano Caruana with 2,804. He is followed by another American, Hukaru Nakamura (2,788), the Chinese Liren Ding (2,780) and the Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi (2,769).Carlsen first topped the classical games ranking in January 2010 with 2,810 points. From July 2011 to date he has had his longest streak at the top of the select universal list.
