Cubans win second and third places at Mexican Chess Open

Cuban players Ermes Espinosa and Diasmany Otero finished second and third at the Mexican Open Chess Championship, which ended on Sunday in Queretaro with the leadership of the host Jose Eduardo Martinez.

Martinez, born in Peru and naturalized Mexican citizen as of the current season, concluded with 7.5 units after agreeing a draw in the final game with Otero, whose seven points left him third in the ranking published at www.chess-results.com.

The other Cuban, Ermes, reached the same figure, but by tiebreaker he won second place, in addition to a gain of 12.8 Elo points that put him at the edge of the 2,500 mark.

He won on Sunday against the Cuban playing for Mexico, Juan Carlos Obregon, and that facilitated his promotion.

Cuban Elier Miranda also achieved a final success against Colombian Felipe Sanchez and rounded up seven scores to place fifth in the standings.

Completing the performance of those from Cuba were Dylan Berdayes and Omar Almeida, who reached 6.5 and six scores, in that order, to place seventh and 12th among the more than 120 competitors.

In the group of experts, the Cuban representation depended on Roxangel Obregon, with the best performance among women, by adding six points that earned her the 12th place, while Oleiny Linares reached 5.5 stripes and finished in 15th place.