45th VILLA DE BENASQUE INTERNATIONAL CHESS OPEN 2026. ROUND 6

Indian GM Aditya Samant has joined American GM Brandon Jacobson at the top of the standings after winning his game on board three against Colombian GM José Gabriel Cardoso, while the remaining games involving players on 4.5 points ended in draws.

Jacobson and Antipov did not take many risks on board one, with the game soon reaching an endgame with a bishop and two rooks for each side, before they agreed to a draw after 32 moves.

In the group of players on 4 points, the vast majority of games were decided in favour of the favourite on paper, with the exception of Dan Zoler’s defeat against China’s Yang Xu. The few draws included Madrid’s Nicola Vioque against Edoardo di Benedetto, Aragon’s Sergio Atarés against Martín Krauche, China’s Riujun Jin against Diego Vergara, and the longest game of the round, between Nicolás Martín and Cristian Andrés Hernández.

In addition to playing the longest game, Martín and Hernández had to undergo an anti-cheating check. Each day, by random draw, the players from several games must undergo an additional check after their games finish, in addition to the check carried out on all players at the entrance to the playing hall before the start of play.

Results

1	GM	Jacobson Brandon	5	½-½	4½	GM	Antipov Mikhail Al.
2	IM	Habans Aguerrea Javier	4½	½-½	4½	GM	Petkov Momchil
3	GM	Samant Aditya S	4½	1-0	4½	GM	Cardoso Cardoso José Gabriel
4	IM	Pásti Áron	4½	½-½	4	GM	Avila Pavas Santiago
5	GM	Zoler Dan	4	0-1	4		Xu Yang
6	FM	Vioque González Nicolas	4	½-½	4	IM	Di Benedetto Edoardo
7	GM	Castellanos Rodríguez Renier	4	1-0	4	FM	Garrigue Julian
8		Lakuntza Plazaola Asier	4	0-1	4	IM	Hagner Bennet
9	FM	Romero Pallares Daniel	4	0-1	4	FM	Marrujo Pardo Mauricio E.
10	IM	Vergara Anton Diego	4	½-½	4		Jin Ruijun

Overall standings

1	GM	Samant Aditya S	5½
2	GM	Jacobson Brandon	5½
3	GM	Antipov Mikhail Al.	5
4	GM	Petkov Momchil	5
5	FM	Vesga Izeta Markel	5
6	IM	Habans Aguerrea Javier	5
7	GM	Ubilava Elizbar	5
8	GM	Castellanos Rodríguez Renier	5
9	IM	Pásti Áron	5
10		Xu Yang	5
11	IM	Xie Felix	5
12	FM	Marrujo Pardo Mauricio Emmanuel	5
13	IM	Hagner Bennet	5
14	FM	Castellanos Gómez Alejandro	5
15	FM	Uber Gracia Hugo	5

Veterans’ standings

1	GM	Ubilava Elizbar	5
2	GM	De La Villa Garcia Jesus Maria	4½
3		Rodríguez García Manuel Francisco	4
4	GM	Cifuentes Parada Roberto	4
5	IM	Martín González Ángel	4

Junior standings

1	IM	Habans Aguerrea Javier	5
2	IM	Xie Felix	5
3	FM	Marrujo Pardo Mauricio Emmanuel	5
4	IM	Hagner Bennet	5
5	FM	Uber Gracia Hugo	5

Women’s standings

1	IM	Matnadze Bujiashvili Ann	4½
2	WGM	Cervantes Landeiro Thalia	4
3	WFM	Hernández Bermúdez Manuela	3½
4		García Trabanca Ana	3½
5	WCM	Viñolas Anglada Laura	3½

Elo Band A

1	FM	Vesga Izeta Markel	5
2	GM	Ubilava Elizbar	5
3		Xu Yang	5
4	IM	Xie Felix	5
5	FM	Castellanos Gómez Alejandro	5

Elo Band B

1		Jin Ruijun	4½
2		Martín Cabeza Nicolas	4½
3	FM	Sánchez Aller Fernando	4½
4	FM	Atares Buisan Sergio	4½
5	CM	Conon Catalin	4½

Elo Band C

1		Moya Gimeno Raúl	4½
2	CM	González Aguirre Luis	4
3		García Acin Pablo	4
4		Gutiérrez Toro David	4
5		Quiros Benito Sergio	4

Elo Band D

1		Paniagua Tomillo Iván	4
2		González González Asier	4
3		Rodríguez Cuesta Marcos	4
4		Molina Figueroa Antoni	4
5	WFM	Hernández Bermúdez Manuela	3½

Elo Band E

1		Chang Eli	4½
2		Latre Rodríguez Francisco	4
3		Delgado Gómez Rubén	3½
4		Salas Latorre José	3½
5		Jiménez Escudero Daniel	3½

Aragonese players

1	IM	Vergara Anton Diego	4½
2	FM	Atares Buisan Sergio	4½
3	CM	Conon Catalin	4½
4		Moya Gimeno Raúl	4½
5	FM	Romero Pallares Daniel	4

Round 7 pairings

1	GM	Samant Aditya S	5½		5½	GM	Jacobson Brandon
2	GM	Antipov Mikhail Al.	5		5	FM	Marrujo Pardo Mauricio E.
3	GM	Petkov Momchil	5		5	IM	Xie Felix
4	GM	Ubilava Elizbar	5		5	GM	Castellanos Rodríguez Renier
5	IM	Hagner Bennet	5		5	FM	Vesga Izeta Markel
6	FM	Castellanos Gómez Alejandro	5		5	IM	Habans Aguerrea Javier
7	FM	Uber Gracia Hugo	5		5	IM	Pásti Áron
8		Xu Yang	5		4½	GM	Tiglon Bryce
9	GM	Cardoso Cardoso José Gabriel	4½		4½	FM	Atares Buisan Sergio
10	GM	Avila Pavas Santiago	4½		4½		Martín Cabeza Nicolas

Tomorrow will be a very intense day, with the Spanish Mixed Pairs Championship taking place in the morning and the seventh round in the afternoon.

A total of 39 pairs are registered for the championship. According to the ranking, the three favourites are the pairs formed by Catalans Alex Villa and Laia Bosch, Gerard Ayats and Elisabeth Riera, and Aragonese players Daniel Forcen and Belén Miranda.