Capablanca Memorial

BY: BOBBY ANG

(As published in Chess Piece, BusinessWorld, 05 July 2010)

Photo sourced from chessbase.com

45th Capablanca Memorial
Havana, Cuba
June 9-22, 2010

Final Standings
1. GM Vassily Ivanchuk UKR 2741, 7.0/10
2. GM Ian Nepomniachtchi RUS 2695, 6.0/10
3-4. GM Leinier Dominguez CUB 2713, GM Nigel Short ENG 2685, 5.5/10
5-6. GM Evgeny Alekseev RUS 2700, GM Lazaro Bruzon CUB 2668, 3.0/10

Average ELO 2700
Category 18

The Capablanca Memorial, commemorating the third world champion (1921-1927) Jose Raul Capablanca, is a chess tournament that has been held annually in Cuba since 1962. It has an impressive history -- the Havana Hilton was opened in 1958 as a huge casino. Che Guevara and his revolutionaries took over the building in 1959 and formed their new government in one floor of the hotel, naming it Habana Libre. Guevara was an extremely harsh disciplinarian who unhesitatingly shot defectors. Deserters were punished as traitors, and Guevara was known to send execution squads to hunt down those seeking to go AWOL.

However, he was also a great chess lover, and when the new government had stabilized he acted as moving spirit to organize the first memorial tournament in 1962, covering the costs as Director of the National Bank and Minister of Industries. Miguel Najdorf won this event ahead of a powerful cast including Lev Polugaevsky, Boris Spassky, Svetozar Gligoric, Vassily Smyslov, etc.. In its early years this tournament paid the biggest cash prizes in the world and to get an invitation to play here was considered a recognition of your worth as a player.

Perhaps the most famous edition was the 4th, in 1965. The US Champion Bobby Fischer agreed to play in Havana, but the US State Department would not allow him to go to Cuba due to strained relations between the two countries. Finally they arranged for Fischer to play his games by telex from the Marshall Chess Club in New York City.
A total of 22 players (13 GMs) played in that event. Vassily Smyslov won the tournament with 15.5/21. Fischer tied for 2nd with Yugoslavia’s Borislav Ivkov and Efim Geller (USSR).

In contrast to the monster single round-robin tournaments previously with a big player list, lately the tournament format has been changed to a six-player double round-robin event (although, to be fair, now there are usually two tournaments held alongside for lesser players). The Ukrainian GM Vassily Ivanchuk has won the elite tournament for three straight years from 2005-2007, and with his victory this year he is now the only player ever to have won the Capablanca Memorial solo. Tony Miles of England has also won four times, but one of his victories was shared.

Chucky started this double-round robin tournament with a black-piece victory over Nigel Short and continued with three more wins and no losses, leading from start to finish. He relied more on his technique and efficiency though in this event. He left it to Nepomniatchtchi, the reigning European champion, to bring on the fireworks. Literally translated, Nepomniachtchi means "the one who remembers nothing." Well, for sure, he does not play by rote -- his games have always been shining examples of creativity over the board. Here is his latest masterpiece.

Short, Nigel (2685) -- Nepomniachtchi, Ian (2695) [B74]
45th Capablanca Mem Elite Havana CUB (8), 18.06.2010
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