With September now over, 76 players have already registered, including 19 grandmasters, 24 international masters, 17 FIDE masters and 8 candidate masters; a total of 68 internationally titled players. The registered players represent 23 countries.
The Open will be played over nine rounds, from 3 to 8 December, in Sant Boi, with two sessions per day. The playing halls will be located in the theatre and the adjoining facilities of the Can Massallera municipal complex.
On Sunday, 6 December, at 10 a.m., GM Martinez Alcantara will give a simultaneous exhibition in the Pompeu Hall at “L’Ateneu Barcelonès”. For the fifth consecutive year, this event allows us to strengthen our collaboration with Barcelona's leading cultural institution.
Martinez Alcantara took part in the Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, which concluded last Sunday (27), as captain and coach of the Mexican team.
The 46th Chess Olympiad in Samarkand confirmed the shift of world chess towards Asia. Uzbekistan was crowned world champion, followed by India and Germany, who completed the podium after eleven rounds of intense competition.
The young and explosive Uzbek team —Abdusattorov, Sindarov, Yakuboev, Vokhidov and Madaminov— once again demonstrated that it is the new powerhouse of world chess, winning its second Olympiad after its surprise triumph in Chennai in 2022. India, solid and consistent, took silver on tiebreaks, while Germany earned a well-deserved bronze. This year, EL LLOBREGAT will welcome 18 German players registered through the collaboration we have established with the German Chess Federation, which is very interested in sending its players to EL LLOBREGAT OPEN CHESS.
Spain delivered a notable performance in Samarkand, finishing in 10th place among 206 national teams and improving on its initial ranking (13th). The men's team finished with 8 wins and 3 defeats, highlighted by a final-round victory over Georgia and strong performances by David Antón, Jaime Santos Latasa and Alexei Shirov. Spain's outstanding individual performer was Daniil Yuffa, who won the individual silver medal on the reserve board with a 2691 Elo performance.
In the women's section, Spain finished in 24th place, affected by an unfortunate final round against Indonesia.
The Olympiad was also marked by the election for the FIDE presidency. In a closely contested second round, the Kazakhstan-born businessman of Russian origin Timur Turov was elected the new FIDE president until 2030, with Viswanathan Anand serving as vice-president.
For this seventh edition of EL LLOBREGAT, we have continued making technical improvements to our website in order to broadcast live the games of the top 120 players, display several games simultaneously on screen, provide live analysis, commentary and interviews, and connect with streamers specially invited to the tournament. This year, with the increased exposure guaranteed by LA VANGUARDIA, we aim to surpass the best audience figures achieved in previous years (150,000 page views).
Anyone interested can consult the Open regulations and the news we publish at www.lavanguardia.com/elllobregat by clicking on the “Open Chess” tab on the right-hand side of the top navigation bar.
