Renier Vazquez really enjoys playing at the Capablanca International Memorial. Author: Provided by interviewees
Renier Vazquez Igarza (43) returned to Cuba. More than 20 years ago, he emigrated to Spain and became a grandmaster there. Although he built his chess career in a European country and lives his life with two children and a wife, every time he comes to the island he feels at home, he carries it in his heart.
It is the second seeding of the open group of the Capablanca International Memorial, which takes place in the capital’s Habana Libre Hotel. After the fifth round, he scored 3.5 units and became the owner of the 18th place among more than 140 players.
Olginero said rebellious youth that he is always happy to play in this tournament and somewhat grateful for not being first in the opening rankings, as his experience has shown him that this condition creates a lot of pressure to win the tournament. He failed to finish in the top three in the Open last year and is now struggling to finish in the top spot.
Vazquez, whose last two visits to the Antilles symbolic competition were in 2022 and 2002 before heading to Spanish soil, believes his most notable result while playing here was the national youth title in 1997 in Matanzas, where he lived. for a very controversial fight that ended in a tie-break.
“I am driven not only by participating in Capablanca, I attended a children’s tournament, which is also part of my sport. However, I have many friends since I was young and lived in Cuba. This is my land, although I have lived abroad for over 20 years. For its part, Spain is a fantastic country to study in, you have books and a computer and if you dedicate the time and effort you have the tools to fulfill your dream of becoming a grandmaster. Another thing is a large number of existing tournaments, which is very important for achieving the goal that I achieved there,” he said.
Before finishing the dialogue, he said that the Spanish men’s team is very strong with the arrival of Alexei Shirov. “Also worth mentioning are Eduardo Iturrizaga and Miguel Santos. I trained with the national team as a second coach and I think he may have options at any time to fight for an outstanding performance.
Source: Juventud Rebelde