Carlos Daniel Albornoz

Havana, Nov 18 (JIT) - Cuba's Carlos Daniel Albornoz finished in third place in the Figueira da Foz International Chess Tournament in Portugal, a performance that his compatriot Luis Ernesto Quesada will try to match today during the closing of the Revolution Cup in Mexico City.

The Camagüey native completed a good seven-point performance in nine rounds, with six wins, a couple of draws, and only one defeat, this one against Armenian Karen Grigoryan, winner of the tournament with 7.5 points.

Albornoz, who at the beginning of February next year will try to set his national titles at three, improved by two points his current Elo accumulated of 2,752. Among his best performances now it is worth mentioning the victory over the Indian Vuppala Prraneeth and the tie with the Spaniard Daniel Alsina.

The latter also closed the tournament with the same accumulated score as the Cuban, but the tiebreaker system opened the doors to the second step in the ranking that grouped 80 players from 18 countries.

While that was happening in Europe, on the other side of the Atlantic, attention remained focused on Mexican soil, with the participation of three Cubans in the Revolution Cup, although only Quesada maintained options to finish on the podium.

After an erratic start marked by two consecutive setbacks, the reigning champion of the Island has managed to recover positions, and thanks to the sum of 1.5 points on Sunday, was included in a batch of players anchored in fourth place in possession of 4.5 rays.

The player from Ciego de Ávila agreed on a draw with the Cuban nationalized Mexican Juan Carlos Gonzalez and then defeated Abel Fabian Lopez from Havana (1.5 points).

For the closing, he will face Roberto Alejandro Ramos (2), and with a victory, he could secure his place among the winners, although it depends on what happens at the other tables.

It seems almost a fact that Colombian Sebastián Felipe Sánchez will be crowned, the only one with six scores and rival in the farewell of Peruvian Kevin Cori (5), now representing Mexico.

Spain's Jose Fernando Cuenca has 5.5 points, valid to rest in second place before his farewell against Gonzalez (4.5).