Carlos Larduet, the best-placed Cuban in the world championship in line for handicapped finished with 7.5 points, one point less than the lucky champion.
Havana, February 3 (JIT) - Individual victories by Carlos Larduet and Alberto Interian gave Cuba the necessary advantage to beat Bangladesh 2.5-1.5 to move up to sixth place in the Belgrade 2023 Chess Olympiad for Persons with Disabilities in Serbia.
Larduet, world runner-up among the blind and visually impaired in 2006, outplayed Ejaz Husein Syed with white pieces in 27 moves of a Slav Defense.
Meanwhile, Interian handled with success the clear figures against Bappi Sarkar and won after 40 moves of a King's Indian Defense.
Unfortunately, on the first board Pedro Morales could not maintain his good run and with black figures fell to Md. Khorshed Alam, after 27 moves of a Sistema Veresov opening.
The only woman in the Cuban team, Idalis Batista, was once again on time and agreed a draw in 47 moves of a Sicilian Defense as opponent of Md. Ali Newas Sarkar, a result praised by coach Rodney Perez in conversation with JIT from the headquarters.
This was the third winning match for the Islanders, who only lost to India during the second date of the tournament. They have now accumulated six points, which boosts their expectations for the remaining matches.
After four rounds, Poland, the reigning world team champions, remained alone at the top with a perfect eight-point performance, thanks to their 2.5-1.5 win over the Philippines.
Hungary and India were held to a draw (2-2) and Israel overcame 3.5-0.5 an international team playing under the International Chess Federation (Fide) flag.
As escorts of the Poles are the Indians with seven points, followed by the Philippines, Israel and IPCA (International Federation of the Blind), all with six points, but with a better tie-break than Cuba.
SECOND STAGE OF THE WOMEN'S GRAND PRIX BEGAN
Three wins with white pieces, one with black and three draws left this Thursday the first round of the Munich Chess Grand Prix 2023, second stop of the most prestigious circuit of this sport among women.
Russia's Alexandra Kosteniuk, China's Zhongyi Tan and Germany's Elisabeth Paehtz won with clear figures, while Germany's Dinara Wargner scored the only smile with Black.
A total of 12 players animate this stage, which follows the one held last September in Azerbaijan, won by Russian Kateryna Lagno with eight points out of a possible 11.
With a system similar to that of the men, the 16 women registered in the series must participate in three stages to score points in the final ranking and opt for places in the tournament of candidates for the world crown.
