In the small Armenian town of Jermuk, a round-robin tournament with a strong field of ten young participants is currently taking place. Among them are Hans Moke Niemann (photo), Nihal Sarin and Alexander Donchenko. After five rounds, these three players are only among the chasers with 2½/5 points each. At the top of the standings is a quartet with 3/5 points each: Armenians Haik Martirosyan, Shant Sargsyan and Samvel Ter-Sahakyan and the Iranian Amin Tabatabaei. Daily rounds will be played until Tuesday. | Photos: Official website
At the beginning of the month, FIDE published the new world ranking list. Since there have been more FIDE-rated tournaments recently there has been some movement on the list but Magnus Carlsen, Hou Yifan, Alireza Firouzja and Zhou Jiner are still the best players in the various categories.
“It is early night in Havana. A red retro Chevrolet convertible is taking us back to the iconic Hotel Nacional. The ocean is on our right, the lively streets of the old town on the left, and I can’t help thinking that it’s a dream I will soon wake up from”, writes Irina Bulmaga about her successful trip to Havana, where she got a remarkable victory in the Premier group of the Capablanca Memorial. | Pictured: A photo from the Morro Castle, a fortress guarding the entrance to the Havana harbour
The 55th edition of the Capablanca Memorial took place on April 19-28 at the historic Hotel Nacional de Cuba in Havana. Hans Niemann from the United States dominated the Elite group, scoring 7½ points in the 10-player single round-robin. The Premier group, a women’s tournament, was similarly dominated by Romanian IM Irina Bulmaga, who also collected 7½ points to finish two points clear of her closest chaser. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club
A day after a stunning victory over Magnus Carlsen, R Praggnanandhaa scored two wins and drew against Nodirbek Abdusattorov early on Tuesday. He, however, lost to Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi in the 11th round.