Cuban GM Gonzalez leads Zonal 2.3 Chess Tournament

HAVANA, Cuba, May 31 (acn) After eight rounds, Cuban Yuri Gonzalez appeared on top of the standings of the Zonal 2.3 Chess Tournament, taking place in El Salvador, which grants two tickets to the world cup.

Gonzalez defeated Costa Rican Bernal Gonzalez yesterday and amounts 6.5 points and is tied with Colombian Joshua Ruiz, who beat local Ernesto Chavez, according to the specialized website www.chess-results.com.
Ruiz climbed to the privileged position a day earlier when he defeated Gonzalez and in the final round will face his compatriot Camilo Ríos, who ranks third with six units, same amount of Cuban Lazaro Bruzon but with better tiebreaker than him.
The latter was the first seed of the contest, but has drawn four times, the last one versus Costa Rican Sergio Duran, performance which could prevent him to meet his goal of achieving one of the tickets to the World Cup to be held next September in Georgia.
Today, Bruzon will rival Colombian John Jairo Cifuentes, while Gonzalez will face the also Cuban Roberto Carlos Sanchez, fifth with 5.5 units.