The 13th Pan American School Chess Championship held last week at the facilities of the Paraguayan Olympic Committee (COP) concluded successfully, with Team Paraguay coming in third place!
Peru ended in first place overall, and Canada came in second. Team Paraguay won two Gold medals, one Silver and two Bronze medals, according to the authorities of the event that was held in Paraguay for the first time.
The event was held from October 13 to 19 with the presence of nearly 300 chess players from 20 countries of the Continent, organised by the Paraguayan Chess Federation (FEPARAJ) and the Chess Confederation of America (CCA); with the support, in addition to the COP, of the National Secretariat of Sports.
It had a record participation in international chess events of 140 Paraguayan children from all corners of the country, who competed in all categories separated by age and gender from Under 7 to Under 17, both in Absolute and Female.
In the overall medal table, Peru ranked first with a total of 11 medals (3 gold, 5 silver and 3 bronze) followed by Canada with 6 medals (2 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze); while Paraguay occupied third place with 5 medals (2 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze).
Paraguay occupied the podium in 5 categories, two absolute (male) and three female, and a dozen athletes fought until the last date for the first positions in all categories. In this order of things, Edgar Espinoza (h) won the bronze medal in the Under 7 Absolute Category; Iván Torales, comfortably took first place, gold medal in the Under 13 Absolute Category. For her part, WCM Renata Mayeregger, did the same in the Under 17 Female Category, winning gold and first place.
In the under 15 women’s category, WCM Fiorella Mayeregger came second in her category, taking home the silver medal, and in the under 13 women’s category, Jimena Sofía Lugo Martínez came third on the podium, taking home the bronze medal.
It is important to remember that, given the magnitude of the event, all categories allowed access to master titles, either to the champions and/or to the podium. Thus, Iván, Renata and Jimena obtained the right to become FM and WFM, the first two, and WCM, the third, once they achieved the minimum ELO to win these titles.
According to FIDE rules, Ivancito, as he is known in the chess world, must reach 2,100 ELO points (he currently has 1,726 points, to which must be added the 136 points earned in this Pan American Championship).
For her part, Renata, who already holds the title of WCM and 1,833 ELO points, from Team Paraguay, achieved third place in the Continental School Chess Championship and reached 1,900 ELO points to win the new title. In this tournament she managed to add nearly 50 points, which puts her on the verge of a new title for Paraguay. Finally, Jimena, with 1,593 ELO points and nearly 50 more won in this Pan American, must reach 1,800 to be a new WCM of Paraguay.
