Chess Albornoz

San Salvador, July 6 (JIT) - The Cubans closed with a pair of golden smiles in the first chess event of the XXIV Central American and Caribbean Games.

Carlos Daniel Albornoz and Yaniela Forgas imposed supremacy in the first boards during the rapid game tournaments, which distributed their prizes after 15 exhausting rounds.

The player from Camagüey scored 13 points thanks to a spectacular closing of five consecutive wins. He left behind Joshua Johson from Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuelan Samid Eduardo Escalona, whose identical accumulated 11.5 points were enough for the silver and bronze medals, in that order.

Yaniela's crown emerged after another final of four victories, only sullied by one board, exactly in round 15 against the host Marielos Vásquez. She completed 12.5 units, unreachable for the Puerto Rican Danitza Vazquez and the Mexican Lilia Fuentes, her escorts on the podium with 12 and 11 points each.

In the second boards, represented by Yerisbel Miranda and Luis Ernesto Quesada, there were also prizes, although silver. He closed with 12.5 points, similar to those of Mexico's Luis Ibarra, but the latter had a better tie-breaking system.

In order to get the medal, the avileño needed a spectacular rise of five successes in a row, since he had started the day as fourth in the ranking.

The opposite happened to Yerisbel, who started the day as leader in the Hotel Terraza, but lost in the penultimate round to Panama's Ashley Castillo, and not even winning after that and scoring 13 points helped her to win the gold medal. The biggest prize was enjoyed by Colombian Valentina Argote, impeccable in the closing round to reach 14 units.

"We are very happy, we did what we had to look for. The men were immense and it was a pity that Yerisbel lost that game and missed out on the gold," explained happy coach Rodney Perez, who like his boys knows what it means to be part of the Cuban delegation in a multisport event.

This Thursday there will be no rest, because the Blitz tournament agreed to 15 rounds will be demanding. "We have found level here, although the Elo of the Cubans are superior. That doesn't mean it will be easy to win", insisted Rodney, at the same time sure that more medals will come.