Leinier Domínguez advances to the third round of the Chess World Cup

August 5, 2023

Cuban-born American Grandmaster Leinier Domínguez (ELO 2739) defeated Polish Igor Janik (2539) again this Thursday and secured his place in the third round of the Chess World Cup, being held in Baku, Azerbaijan, until August 24.

In this game, "The idol of Güines" played with white pieces and faced a Sicilian defense, according to Columna Deportiva's report. The placement of his queen on H6 was fundamental, as it prevented Black's castling. After gaining a material advantage, thanks to pressure from the rook on the E file, the game was comfortable for Domínguez, who had won the first encounter and accumulates two points.

Of the two Cuban representatives who managed to reach this stage of the competition, Carlos Albornoz (2591) and Lisandra Ordaz (2318), only the former retains options, after agreeing to a draw for the second time with Egyptian Bassem Amin (2694). For the second time in the tournament, the player from Camagüey will have to seek his ticket to the next round in rapid games.

Albornoz already prevailed in that type of challenge in the tiebreak round against Kazakh Alisher Suleymenov, after drawing in the classical games in the initial phase of the competition.

Ordaz Valdés, after holding on in the first classical encounter with white pieces against the super-favored Russian Grandmaster without regard to gender Aleksandra Goryachkina (2557), fell in the second challenge.

This time, the Russian had the advantage of the first move. However, the player from Pinar del Río resisted with the black pieces and reached a rook endgame down a pawn, but her opponent's passed pawn on the B file was unstoppable, according to Columna Deportiva.

Despite this defeat, sold very dearly to the second-ranked player in the world women's rankings, the Cuban chess player signed a remarkable performance, placing herself among the 64 best in the world and having eliminated, in the first round, a two-time U.S. national champion.