# Capablanca Memorial

The Capablanca Memorial is a chess tournament that has been held annually in Cuba since 1962 in honor of José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera. At the time, it was the best paid tournament in the world. Since 1974 B and C tournaments have been held.

## 1962 tournament

The first José Raúl Capablanca Memorial was held from 29 April to 30 May 1962 in the Habana Libre hotel in Havana, Cuba. Miguel Najdorf was first in a field of 22 players, followed by Lev Polugaevsky and Boris Spassky, Svetozar Gligorić and Vasily Smyslov, Borislav Ivkov, etc.

## 1965 tournament

The fourth tournament held in 1965 was marked by an unusual circumstance. U.S. Champion Bobby Fischer had been invited to play and was offered a $3000 appearance fee, but the United States Department of State would not allow him to travel to Cuba due to tensions in Cuba–United States relations. American Grandmaster Larry Evans had been permitted to play in the tournament the year before, as he was also acting as a journalist. The U.S. Department of State often allowed newsmen and journalists to travel to off-limits countries, but it would not budge on Fischer even though he had made arrangements to write about the event for the Saturday Review. Fischer instead played his games by telex from the Marshall Chess Club in New York City. Capablanca's son Dr. José Raúl Capablanca Jr relayed the moves in Havana. When Fischer's participation seemed assured, Cuban President Fidel Castro called it a "great propaganda victory for Cuba", making headlines. When Fischer heard of this, he cabled Castro threatening to withdraw unless Castro stopped making political statements about Fischer's participation. A cabled reply from Castro eased Fischer's concern and he joined the field of twenty-two players, with thirteen Grandmasters and seven International Masters. Play by teletype added to the strain of the tournament. Although the English magazine CHESS thought that this was an advantage for Fischer who became accustomed to this manner of play (each of his opponents experienced it only once), others considered it a handicap for Fischer who endured the extra labor in every game. Former World Champion Vasily Smyslov (USSR) won the tournament with 15½ points of 21. Borislav Ivkov (Yugoslavia), Efim Geller (USSR), and Fischer shared second through fourth, a half point behind. Although Fischer did not win, his performance was widely considered a success given the playing conditions and the fact that Fischer was playing his first international tournament in three years.

## Winners

    #YearCityWinner 11962Havana Miguel Najdorf (Argentina) 21963Havana Viktor Korchnoi (Soviet Union) 31964Havana Vasily Smyslov (Soviet Union) Wolfgang Uhlmann (East Germany) 41965Havana Vasily Smyslov (Soviet Union) 51967Havana Bent Larsen (Denmark) 61968Havana Ratmir Kholmov (Soviet Union) 71969Havana Alexey Suetin (Soviet Union) Viktor Korchnoi (Soviet Union) 81971Havana Vlastimil Hort (Czechoslovakia) 91972Cienfuegos Anatoly Lein (Soviet Union) 101973Cienfuegos Vasily Smyslov (Soviet Union) 111974Camagüey Ulf Andersson (Sweden) 121975Cienfuegos Ulf Andersson (Sweden) 131976Cienfuegos Boris Gulko (Soviet Union) 141977Cienfuegos Oleg Romanishin (Soviet Union) Guillermo Garcia Gonzales (Cuba) 151979Cienfuegos Evgeny Sveshnikov (Soviet Union) 161980Cienfuegos Alonso Zapata (Colombia) Ľubomír Ftáčnik (Czechoslovakia) 171981Cienfuegos Vitaly Tseshkovsky (Soviet Union) 181983Cienfuegos Lev Psakhis (Soviet Union) 191984Cienfuegos Amador Rodríguez Céspedes (Cuba) Rainer Knaak (East Germany) 201985Havana Borislav Ivkov (Yugoslavia) 211986Havana Carlos Garcia Palermo (Argentina) Julio Granda Zúñiga (Peru) 221987Camagüey Carlos Garcia Palermo (Argentina) Denis Verduga (Mexico) 231988Havana Zurab Azmaiparashvili (Soviet Union) 241989Holguín Amador Rodríguez Céspedes (Cuba) 251990Havana Adelkis Remón (Cuba) 261991Havana Valeriy Neverov (Soviet Union) 271992Matanzas Henry Urday Cáceres (Peru) 281993Matanzas Mark Hebden (England) 291994Matanzas Loek van Wely (Netherlands) Tony Miles (England) Alonso Zapata (Colombia) 301995Matanzas Tony Miles (England) 311996Cienfuegos Tony Miles (England) 321997Cienfuegos Peter Leko (Hungary) 331998Havana Robert Hübner (Germany) Iván Morovic (Chile) Yaacov Zilberman (Israel) 341999Havana Tony Miles (England) 352000Varadero Alexander Volzhin (Russia) 362001Havana Francisco Vallejo Pons (Spain) 372002Havana Lázaro Bruzón (Cuba) 382003Havana Julio Granda Zúñiga (Peru) 392004Havana Leinier Domínguez (Cuba) 402005Havana Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine) 412006Havana Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine) 422007Havana Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine) 432008Havana Leinier Domínguez (Cuba) 442009Havana Leinier Domínguez (Cuba) 452010Havana Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine) 462011Havana Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine) Lê Quang Liêm (Vietnam) 472012Havana Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine) 482013Havana Zoltán Almási (Hungary) 492014Havana Wesley So (Philippines) 502015Havana Yu Yangyi (China) 512016Varadero Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine) 522017Varadero Krishnan Sasikiran (IND) 532018Havana Sam Shankland (USA) 542019Havana Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine) 552022Havana Hans Niemann (USA) 562023Havana Jonas Buhl Bjerre (Denmark) 572024Havana Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukraine)

## 51st Capablanca Memorial (9–19 June 2016)

The 51st edition of the Capablanca Memorial took place in the Hotel Barceló Solymar Arenas Blancas, Varadero, Cuba, from June 9 to 19, 2016. The tournament format was a six-player ten-round double round robin. The time control was 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30 additional minutes starting from move 41, plus a 30-second increment starting from the first move.
    Cat. XVIII (2695) PlayerRating123456PointsTPR 1 Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine)2710 * *½ ½½ ½1 ½1 ½1 172845 2 Yuriy Kryvoruchko (Ukraine)2682 ½ ½* *½ ½½ 1½ ½½ 162772 3 Ivan Cheparinov (Bulgaria)2687 ½ ½½ ½* *½ ½½ ½½ ½52700 4 Zoltán Almási (Hungary)2688 0 ½½ 0½ ½* *½ ½1 152699 5 Leinier Domínguez Pérez (Cuba)2723 0 ½½ ½½ ½½ ½* *½ ½4½2657 6 Lázaro Bruzón Batista (Cuba)2681 0 0½ 0½ ½0 0½ ½* *2½2509