Lack of funding hampers the development of chess in Cuba

MATANZAS, Cuba, Feb 13 (acn) Lack of funding hampers the development of chess in Cuba, Carlos Rivero, national commissioner of the sport, told ACN during the National Championship of the discipline in this city from 8 to 11 this month.

Rivero said there is currently no budget to insert players of the called learning categories (cadets, juniors, etc) in international events, thus the possibility of better training for Cuban emerging young talent is lost.

The executive also said that the Cuban players will not have financial support by the Cuban Chess Federation for the next women's Pan American championship, so the presence of the Caribbean girls in that event depends on invitations from the organizers.

It is a problem that is becoming increasingly acute and forces us to look for alternatives to develop highly competitive figures , so we created the open group of the Jose Raul Capablanca in Memoriam tournament to replace the lack of competition, he added.

Chess as part of the Cuban sports system is inserted into all primary schools, and although it is no longer subject to adjustments in the education system, its practice is massive in most student centers.

Rivero noted that the strategy of the Cuban Chess Federation consists of internal organization of international events, to incorporate foreign high-ranking players in competitions involving local athletes.

It will be difficult to emergence of champions of the caliber of Leinier Dominguez and Lazaro Bruzon. They took advantage of the possibilities in the past that today, unfortunately, do not exist, he added.