Oleiny Linares wins 2023 Cuban Women’s Championship
Oleiny Linares emerged as the winner of the 57th Cuban Women’s Championship. WGM from Santiago took her third national title in fierce competition with top-rated IM Lisandra Ordaz. The 12-player round-robin with classical time control took place in José Raúl Capablanca Academy in Camagüey from February 09-20. The event turned into an exciting race between Lisandra Ordaz (pictured below, left), WGM Yerisbel Miranda and Oleiny Linares (pictured below, right). Ordaz was in the lead for most of the event, but Linares caught up with her coming into the final round, while Miranda trailed by 1.5 points. In a dramatic final round, Ordaz suffered a defeat with the white pieces at the hands of Yaniela Forgas, whereas Linares drew her game with Yoana Gonzalez and clinched the title by scoring 8.5/11. The champion became the only paricipant to complete the tournament unbeaten. Lisandra Ordaz had to settle for silver. Yerisbel Miranda finished on 7/11 and took bronze. Final standings: 1 WGM Linares Napoles, Oleiny 2179 8½ 2 IM Ordaz Valdes, Lisandra 2312 8 3 WGM Miranda Llanes, Yerisbel 2269 7 4 WGM Forgas Moreno, Yaniela 2304 6½ 5 WGM Arribas Robaina, Maritza 2225 6 6 WFM Muniz Guevara, Amanda 2057 5½ 7 FM Hernandez Machado, Patricia 2143 5½ 8 WIM Hernandez Gil, Ineymig 2158 4½ 9 WIM Gonzalez Ochoa, Yoana 2104 4½ 10 WIM Obregon Garcia, Roxangel 2158 4 11 WFM Gutierrez Espinosa, Karen 2110 3½ 12 WFM Cabrera Ladron, Mayra 1923 2½ Photo: Federación Cubana de Ajedrez
Chess events to celebrate the International Women’s Day set in Tirana, Albania
International Chess Federation, Balkan Chess Federation and Albanian Chess Federation, in collaboration with Albanian Center for Openness and Dialogue, are pleased to announce the International Women’s Day Chess festival, a series of chess events to celebrate the International Women’s Day and reinforce a commitment to women’s equality. The large-scale celebration will be held from March 9-19, 2023. It will start with the “Balkan Chess Star” tournament, the women’s workshop “Chess is a safe space for women”, organized with a contribution from ECU Women Commission, and a simul with female chess influencers, scheduled for March 9-10 in Tirana, Albania. The events will take place at COD – Center of Openness and Dialogue, located within the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers Edifice. The “Balkan Chess Star” blitz tournament is played by 16 girls born in 2007 and younger, representing all Balkan countries, who will first compete in 2 round-robin qualification events on March 9. The Final between the winners of each event is scheduled for March 10. Workshop and simul by chess influencers will feature Dana Reizniece-Ozola, WGM, FIDE Deputy Chair of Management Board; Antoaneta Stefanova, GM, former Women’s World Champion; Anastasia Sorokina, WIM, Chair of FIDE Commission for Women in Chess, international arbiter; Agnieszka Milewska, Director of the Women’s Chess in England; Carol B Meyer, Executive director of the US Chess Federation and Majlinda Pilinci, General Secretary of Albanian Chess federation, member of FIDE PDC Commission, international organizer. Programme of the festival: March 9 14:30 – 15:00 Opening ceremony with officials (FIDE, Albanian Ministry of Education and Sports, NOC Albania, Balkan Chess Federation, Albanian Chess Federation, special guests). 15:00 – 17:30 The “Balkan Chess Star” tournament. Qualification stage 17:30 – 20:00 Workshop “Chess is a safe space for women” Simul with female influencers March 10 10:30 – 13:00 The “Balkan Chess Star” tournament. Final stage 2-hour session with GM 14:00 The Closing Ceremony The events will be followed by the Ladies-only arbiters seminar held by IA Panagiotis Nikolopoulos (GRE), IA Mihail Prevenios (GRE), and IA Tshepiso Lopang (BOT) from March 10-12. The Seminar will award norms and titles of FIDE Arbiter and is open for national arbiters nominated by their federations. The Online FIDE Trainers’ Seminar for female trainers organized by the FIDE TRG Commission in partnership with the FIDE WOM Commission, scheduled for March 17-19, will finalize the celebration of International Women’s Day. Contact details: Majlinda Pilinci: pilincimajlinda@gmail.com Anastasia Sorokina: a.sorokina@fide.com