Portimão is, until the next 15th of September, the Portuguese capital of chess, with the holding of the National Absolute, Female and Amateur Championships.
The “Chess for all” initiative is part of the social program, which will take place between 21:00 pm and 23:00 pm this Tuesday, 10 September, at Praça Manuel Teixeira Gomes. The action is open to the community, being possible to participate in a night fast tournament, in games to practice and use the giant board installed on the site.
As for the competitive aspect, until next Sunday, September 15th, ten individual national titles are up for grabs, one in the Absolute category, three in the Women's category, three in the Amateur category up to 1600 Elo points and three in the Amateur category from 1601 to 1999 Elo points.
In action on the various boards, 40 players compete, with emphasis on the ten that make up the final phase of the Absolute National Championship, the premier event of this second visit of national chess to Portimão this year.
The chess festival began on the 7th, with the realization of the Women's National Championships of semi-fast and fast matches. The following day began the National Absolute and Women's Championships, extending the first of these tournaments until 15 September (nine rounds, in the all against all system), while the women's crown will be disputed in five rounds, by the Swiss system, until the 11th.
From the 11th to the 14th of September it will be the turn of the chess players of the National Amateur Championships to measure forces in the classic rhythm tests, to be held in five rounds. On the 15th, the pace accelerates to semi-fast and fast, with the fight for four more national titles.
With regard to the 74th Absolute National Championship, it allows the champion to qualify directly for a captive place in next year's Olympic team, bringing together a group of players with an Elo average of 2342 points. Two great masters, three international masters, four international masters, three FIDE masters and one national master participate, in a mix of experience and irreverence.
Highlight for the current national champion and absolute record holder (16), master António Fernandes, without forgetting the great international master Luís Galego (four titles) and the international masters Rui Dâmaso (six titles), Paulo Dias (two titles) and Sérgio Rocha and André Ventura Sousa (one title each).
As for the three women's championships to be decided in TEMPO, of semi-fast, fast and classic matches, they have an interesting entry list, which includes very young players, such as Filipa Pipiras, a 13-year-old player who comes from an excellent 14 .th place in the European Under-14 Championship. It has strong competition from the “Olympic” Rita Jorge, Mariana Silva, Ana Inês Silva and Sara Monteiro, who are looking to be in the 2020 Olympics.
In terms of amateurs, players with less than 1999 Elo points and chess players with less than 1600 Elo points compete, many of them young on the rise and full of potential.
This is the second time in 2019 that the European City of Sport welcomes the chess family, "after the success of the Nationals of Youth and Veterans, which brought together, in April, three hundred players", concludes the Chamber of Portimao.
Comments