Canadians in Cuba...

[Hugh Brodie]

Bator Sambuev and Halldor Palsson are playing in the Open section of the Capablanca Memorial in Cuba. Sambuev is ranked 4th by rating.

After 4 rounds, Sambuev has 3.5 (a first-round bye since he arrived late). Palsson also had a first round bye, but then unfortunately castled Queen-side (0-0-0).

121 players; 9 rounds. No one has 4/4.

Results are at: https://chess-results.com/tnr625884.aspx?lan=1&art=4&flag=30

[Hugh Brodie]

Both Canadians won in round 5, leaving Bator in a 5-way tie for first with 4.5.

[Hugh Brodie]

In round 6 (Sunday was a rest day), Bator drew. He remains in a 5-way tie for first with 5/6. Halldor lost.

[Hugh Brodie]

Round 7 - Bator drew, but is now in a 7-way tie for second, with 5.5/7. Halldor lost - remaining with 1/6 (plus a 1/2 point bye).

[Hugh Brodie]

Round 8 - Bator won on board 1, against the only player with 6. He now shares the lead with 6.5 with two others. Halldor lost, and gets a full point bye in round 9 (the last round).

[Hugh Brodie]

Final round - Bator drew and finished in a four-way tie for first it looks like he won on tiebreak, and his opponent got a GM norm. 7/9.

[Aris Marghetis]

Final round - Bator drew and finished in a four-way tie for first it looks like he won on tiebreak, and his opponent got a GM norm. 7/9.

That's quite impressive, congrats Bator!

[Gary Hua]

Congratulations GM Bator ! Very impressive winning in an international tournament in quite a strong field....

Wonder why not much coverage for such good news in Canada chess....

[Victor Plotkin]

Bator regularly plays in Cuba, sometimes in RR sometimes in Swiss. Looks like the Zonal was just a warm-up for him this year. Great result!

Canadian chess forums are too busy nowadays with very important stuff like climate change, female chess players and their discomfort and COVID-19.

[Halldor P. Palsson]

There's actually an interesting issue with GM norms at the end. The IM with 7 points only played 2 GMs but his performance rating is over 2600. Bator's opponent played 3 GMs but his performance rating is below 2600.

[Aris Marghetis]

...

Canadian chess forums are too busy nowadays with very important stuff like climate change, female chess players and their discomfort and COVID-19.

Brilliant!