Havana, December 30 - Ineymig Hernández from Camagüey and Roxángel Obregón from Villa Clara have become the Cuban representatives in the qualifying chess tournament for the Central American and Caribbean Games of Santo Domingo 2026.
They achieved the highest number of points after combining their performances in the rapid and blitz events, held this past weekend in the capital with several players from the national pre-selection and the youth category.
Ineymig dominated the blitz matches with 11 points out of 12 possible, which secured her the spot, despite her less successful rapid games, where she earned only 2.5 points in six matches.
Her total of 13.5 points was unattainable by the other six women in competition. Roxángel claimed the other spot with 11 points, after accumulating 7.5 in blitz and 3.5 in rapid games.
The tournament featured the current national champion Yerisbel Miranda from Pinar del Río, and the experienced player from Santiago de Cuba, Maritza Arribas, who were unable to secure any of the qualifying spots.
Two years ago, Yerisbel was one of the representatives at the San Salvador 2023 Games, which was also attended by Yaniela Forgas from Santiago de Cuba, absent this time.
Ineymig and Roxángel will now join capital city players Dylan Berdayes and Daniel Hidalgo, winners of the men's qualifying spots following a competition that also included rapid and blitz games.
The event to determine the qualified pairs for Santo Domingo 2026 will take place on January 17 and 18 in a hybrid format. Each participating country must ensure that their teams play in a single room, with internet available at all times for matches to be held on the Tornelo platform.
"The top 15 pairs from each country and by gender will qualify. We should not have major difficulties securing those spots," acknowledged Carlos Rivero, president of the Cuban Chess Federation.
However, he also recalled that having a stable connection will be essential, since the tournament organizers are not responsible for that aspect and losing connection will mean losing the game.
It is also mandatory for the venue to have live broadcasting with cameras and the presence of an international arbiter.
For San Salvador, the male pair consisted of Carlos Daniel Albornoz from Camagüey and Luis Ernesto Quesada from Ciego de Ávila.
Chess debuted as part of the Central American and Caribbean Games in that edition, and the Cuban players secured several medals for their delegation.
(Source: JIT)
