Date of the next Capablanca in Memoriam Chess Championship has been changed

Havana, January 12 (RHC)-- The president of the Cuban Chess Federation, Carlos Rivero announced that the next edition of the international Capablanca in Memoriam tournament will be from April 18 to 28, and not in early May as it is tradition.

The also national commissioner of the sport pointed out that it will be held at the Hotel Nacional de Cuba.

The change is made to avoid the coincidence with the Continental Championship of America, a very important event for all players, including Cubans.

Rivero remarked that the competition will maintain the announced format, with an Elite group of 10 players (five guests and an equal number of nationals), which will include the top-level players.

He said that there will be a second section called Premier, only with female presence and similar format of 10 cheerleaders, in addition to the usual Open group, which will be played with a Swiss system.

As a novelty, the event will be completed with a fourth group called Senior, which will bring together players over 60 years of age.

Children will also return to the playing tables with the already known "Looking for a Capablanca", and the usual space for conferences and courses with the presence of well-known Masters will be maintained.

All the planning took into account the strict compliance with the sanitary protocols against Covid-19, although it is expected that the epidemiological situation in Cuba will not have worsened by that time.

The last face-to-face version of the Capablanca took place in May 2019, closed with the eighth triumph of Ukrainian Vassily Ivanchuk and was held at the Habana Libre hotel.

This time the halls of the Nacional will live their first experience as hosts, while the organizers finalize every detail so that the next Capablanca in Memoriam meets the expectations of protagonists and fans.