José Cubas and Thalia Landeiro win 2023 Pan American Chess Esports Finals

Chess was a part of the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago in the Esports category, with the open and women’s finals taking place online on chess.com from October 26-27. Both competitions were eight-player round robins with 3+2 time control.

The opening ceremony was attended by the Vice President of FIDE, Mario Ramirez Barajas, who stressed the importance of chess in the Pan American Games; the President of FIDE America, Jose Carrillo Pujol, who summarized the scope of the event and inclusion of chess in multisport events and a member of the FIDE Chess in MULTISPORT Games commission, Mario Petrucci, who had a meeting Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee, where he discussed a possible chess inclusion in the Olympic Games.

The open final saw the triumph of GM José Cubas (Paraguay). Despite losing to Diego Flores of Argentina in Round 2, Jose scored an impressive 5.5/7 and finished first a full point ahead of Andrés Rodríguez Vila (Uruguay). Santiago Yago Moura (Brazil) tied for third place with Diego Flores and took bronze thanks to a slightly better Sonnenborn-Berger.

Final standings:

The women’s tournament was a very close race, with Thalia Landeiro Cervantes and Miranda Yerisbel sharing first place on 5.5/7. Thalia came out on top thanks to a greater number of victories, whereas the runner-up, Yerisbel, became the only undefeated participant. Deysi Cori netted 5/7 and finished third.

Final standings:

Games and results