Havana, February 27 (JIT) -- Former Ukrainian world champion Ruslan Ponomariov appears so far as the most renowned player who will move pieces during the 57th International Chess Tournament Capablanca in Memoriam 2024, which will repeat venue at the Habana Libre Hotel, in this capital.
Carlos Rivero, president of the Cuban Chess Federation, confirmed to JIT the inclusion of Ponomariov in the elite group, again with ten candidates to the throne equally divided between visitors and hosts.
"We had announced the presence of India's Narayanan Sunilduth Lyna and now Norwegian Aryan Tari joins," the official added about the most important segment of the tournament, scheduled for May 2-12.
Ponomariov has 2,647 Elo points and is ranked 92nd in the universal ranking. He won the world crown in 2002 when he was only 18 years old, which at that time made him the youngest in history to achieve it.
Four years before, he had reached the title of Chess Grandmaster, in the middle of brilliant performances in the world age category. He was also part of the Ukrainian team champion of the Chess Olympiad of Calviá 2004.
The Norwegian Tari has an Elo of 2,635 points and the merit of escorting the great Magnus Carlsen in his country's ranking. Sunilduth Lyna is ranked seventh in India and 42nd in the universal list, thanks to 2,694 Elo units.Rivero said that the local armada will be defined after the Fide ranking update is published, on April 1st.
However, it would be a surprise if it does not include national champion Luis Ernesto Quesada from Avila and Carlos Daniel Albornoz from Camagüey, one of the best players of the moment.Cuba's main chess tournament will also have an open section, for about 200 players, and the usual groups for children and teenagers between eight and 16 years of age, as part of the Searching for Capablanca contest.
At the same time, the Continental Chess Championship of Veterans and Seniors of the Americas 2024 will be held, with the added prize of the title of international master for the winners of each category.
