2019 Magistral Szmetan-Giardelli underway
Quick 5-Minute Summary
Probably South America’s strongest round robin of the year is underway in Buenos Aires (more precisely, at the Palacio de las Aguas Corrientes, CABA) and will continue until the 12th.
By now a tradition in Argentina, the Magistral Szmetan-Giardelli Chess Festival gathers together some of the elite South American players and provides the opportunity for Argentina’s elite players to do battle with them.
The tournament director is none other than legendary grandmaster Oscar Panno, aided by the very competent Juan José Huergo. The time control is the standardish 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes to finish (+30′ per move).
One game is played each day, there being no rest days. There are plenty of photographs and videos on the FaceBook site of Im Benjamin Mela (link below).
After two rounds of play Alan Pichot finds himself isolated in first place with 2 points, followed by a pack of hungry wolves, including Diego Flores who won a brilliant game with the Black pieces against pre-tournament favourite Julio Granda.
