Fernando Peralta defended his national title in the 98th Argentine Chess Championship (98 Campeonato Argentino Superior). A native of Lomas de Zamora won this event for the fifth time, following his success in 2006, 2018, 2020 and 2022.

The 98th Argentine Championship took place from October 28 to November 7 in Palacio de las Aguas Corrientes. The format remained unchanged – a twelve-player round-robin, but compared to last year's edition, the 2023 championship was not as strong for obvious reasons. Alan Pichot (former top-rated Argentinean player) changed federation, while Sandro Mareco (current #1) competed in the FIDE Grand Swiss on the Isle of Man.

Still, the tournament was a very close race among the top-rated participants that came down to the wire again. Coming into the final, Fernando Peralta and Federico Perez Ponsa jointly lead the field a full point ahead of the chasing pack.

Peralta drew with the black pieces in a hectic game with Leonardo Krysa, while Perez Ponsa did not manage to break the resistance of the second lowest-rated FM Ariel Tokman on the white side of Caro-Kann.

To determine the champion, a two-rapid-game tiebreak was played. Despite having unpleasant positions in both encounters at some point, Fernando Peralta drew the first one and pulled off a win in the second game to clinch the title.

GM Leonardo Krysa and IM Pablo Ismael Actorsta tied for third place, netting 7/11 each, with the former claiming bronze thanks to a slightly better Sonnenborn-Berger.

Final standings:

Photos: Federación Argentina de Ajedrez Facebook