45th VILLA DE BENASQUE INTERNATIONAL CHESS OPEN 2026. ROUND 9
Colombian player José Gabriel Cardoso and Italy’s Edoardo Di Benedetto have caught American Mikhail Antipov at the top and will fight for the title of this 45th Villa de Benasque Open tomorrow in the final morning round, which starts at 9:00 a.m.
Antipov could not get beyond a draw against Spain’s Renier Castellanos, the same result as on board 2 between Petkov and Pasti, and on board 4 between Hernández and Tiglon.
By contrast, Cardoso defeated De la Villa, while Di Benedetto beat Alejandro Castellanos.
In the group of players on 6 points, the favourites showed the character that makes them dangerous, especially in the final rounds, and practically all of them scored.
As a result, up to 14 players still have chances of reaching the attractive prizes at the top of the overall standings, although for first place, a win by Antipov, Cardoso or Di Benedetto would rule out the 11 players behind them.
Round 9 results.
| 1 | GM | Antipov Mikhail Al. | 7 | ½-½ | 6½ | GM | Castellanos Rodríguez Renier |
| 2 | GM | Petkov Momchil | 6½ | ½-½ | 6½ | IM | Pásti Áron |
| 3 | GM | Cardoso Cardoso José Gabriel | 6½ | 1-0 | 6½ | GM | De La Villa Garcia Jesus Maria |
| 4 | IM | Hernández Cristian Andres | 6½ | ½-½ | 6½ | GM | Tiglon Bryce |
| 5 | IM | Di Benedetto Edoardo | 6½ | 1-0 | 6½ | FM | Castellanos Gómez Alejandro |
| 6 | GM | Samant Aditya S | 6 | 1-0 | 6 | IM | Xie Felix |
| 7 | FM | Zamengo Fulvio | 6 | 0-1 | 6 | GM | Zoler Dan |
| 8 | Sanz Gorospe Ibai | 6 | 0-1 | 6 | IM | Hagner Bennet | |
| 9 | FM | Vioque González Nicolas | 6 | 0-1 | 6 | IM | Habans Aguerrea Javier |
| 10 | FM | Navarro Martínez Víctor | 6 | ½-½ | 6 | IM | Vergara Anton Diego |
| 11 | GM | Cifuentes Parada Roberto | 6 | 1-0 | 6 | CM | Castro Quijano Eduardo |
| 12 | Moya Gimeno Raúl | 6 | 0-1 | 6 | FM | Povshednyi Ivan | |
| 13 | FM | Krauchi Romero Martín | 5½ | 1-0 | 6 | AIM | Alonso Vargas David |
| 14 | Jiménez Freniche David | 5½ | ½-½ | 5½ | GM | Avila Pavas Santiago | |
| 15 | Yu Tianxiang Carlos | 5½ | ½-½ | 5½ | FM | Marrujo Pardo Mauricio Emm. |
Overall standings:
| 1 | GM | Antipov Mikhail Al. | 7½ |
| 2 | GM | Cardoso Cardoso José Gabriel | 7½ |
| 3 | IM | Di Benedetto Edoardo | 7½ |
| 4 | GM | Samant Aditya S | 7 |
| 5 | GM | Petkov Momchil | 7 |
| 6 | GM | Castellanos Rodríguez Renier | 7 |
| 7 | IM | Habans Aguerrea Javier | 7 |
| 8 | IM | Hernández Cristian Andres | 7 |
| 9 | GM | Tiglon Bryce | 7 |
| 10 | IM | Pásti Áron | 7 |
| 11 | GM | Zoler Dan | 7 |
| 12 | IM | Hagner Bennet | 7 |
| 13 | GM | Cifuentes Parada Roberto | 7 |
| 14 | FM | Povshednyi Ivan | 7 |
| 15 | GM | Ubilava Elizbar | 6½ |
Veterans’ standings:
| 1 | GM | Cifuentes Parada Roberto | 7 |
| 2 | GM | Ubilava Elizbar | 6½ |
| 3 | GM | De La Villa Garcia Jesus Maria | 6½ |
| 4 | Rodríguez García Manuel Francisco | 6 | |
| 5 | GM | Campora Daniel H. | 6 |
Junior standings:
| 1 | IM | Habans Aguerrea Javier | 7 |
| 2 | IM | Hagner Bennet | 7 |
| 3 | FM | Povshednyi Ivan | 7 |
| 4 | Martín Cabeza Nicolas | 6½ | |
| 5 | FM | Krauchi Romero Martín | 6½ |
Women’s standings:
| 27 | IM | Matnadze Bujiashvili Ann | 6½ |
| 42 | WGM | Cervantes Landeiro Thalia | 6 |
| 70 | Miranda Herrera Belen | 6 | |
| 72 | Rodríguez Canovas Elena | 6 | |
| 98 | CM | Estévez Sacristán Deva | 5½ |
Elo Band A:
| 1 | IM | Hernández Cristian Andres | 7 |
| 2 | GM | Cifuentes Parada Roberto | 7 |
| 3 | FM | Povshednyi Ivan | 7 |
| 4 | GM | Ubilava Elizbar | 6½ |
| 5 | FM | Vesga Izeta Markel | 6½ |
Elo Band B:
| 1 | Martín Cabeza Nicolas | 6½ | |
| 2 | Torres Rebolledo Víctor | 6½ | |
| 3 | Vecillas Rey Daniel | 6½ | |
| 4 | Gutiérrez García Marcos 2007 | 6½ | |
| 5 | Rodríguez García Manuel Francisco | 6 |
Elo Band C:
| 1 | Moya Gimeno Raúl | 6 | |
| 2 | Latre Rodríguez Javier | 6 | |
| 3 | Miranda Herrera Belen | 6 | |
| 4 | Docampo Fuertes Marcelo Inaki | 6 | |
| 5 | Rodríguez Canovas Elena | 6 |
Elo Band D:
| 1 | Macias De Castro Alberto | 5½ | |
| 2 | Berdote Alonso Carlos | 5½ | |
| 3 | González González Asier | 5½ | |
| 4 | WFM | Suárez Gómez Paula | 5½ |
| 5 | AFM | Martínez Carnicer Eduardo | 5½ |
Elo Band E:
| 1 | Chang Eli | 5 | |
| 2 | De La Hera Narganes Carlos | 5 | |
| 3 | Vedant Nayudu | 5 | |
| 4 | Maceira Moya Nery | 5 | |
| 5 | Latre Rodríguez Francisco | 4½ |
Aragonese players:
| 1 | GM | Cifuentes Parada Roberto | 7 |
| 2 | IM | Vergara Anton Diego | 6½ |
| 3 | FM | Escartín Lacasa José | 6½ |
| 4 | FM | Romero Pallares Daniel | 6 |
| 5 | CM | Conon Catalin | 6 |
Round 10 pairings:
| 1 | GM | Cardoso Cardoso José Gabriel | 7½ | 7½ | GM | Antipov Mikhail Al. | |
| 2 | GM | Tiglon Bryce | 7 | 7½ | IM | Di Benedetto Edoardo | |
| 3 | FM | Povshednyi Ivan | 7 | 7 | GM | Petkov Momchil | |
| 4 | IM | Habans Aguerrea Javier | 7 | 7 | GM | Samant Aditya S | |
| 5 | GM | Zoler Dan | 7 | 7 | GM | Cifuentes Parada Roberto | |
| 6 | GM | Castellanos Rodríguez Renier | 7 | 7 | IM | Hernández Cristian Andres | |
| 7 | IM | Pásti Áron | 7 | 7 | IM | Hagner Bennet | |
| 8 | GM | De La Villa Garcia Jesus Maria | 6½ | 6½ | FM | Navarro Martínez Víctor | |
| 9 | Lakuntza Plazaola Asier | 6½ | 6½ | IM | Vergara Anton Diego | ||
| 10 | FM | Escartín Lacasa José | 6½ | 6½ | GM | Ubilava Elizbar | |
| 11 | Martín Cabeza Nicolas | 6½ | 6½ | FM | Krauchi Romero Martín | ||
| 12 | FM | Vesga Izeta Markel | 6½ | 6½ | Gómez Pastrana Juan | ||
| 13 | IM | Matnadze Bujiashvili Ann | 6½ | 6½ | Torres Rebolledo Víctor | ||
| 14 | Vecillas Rey Daniel | 6½ | 6½ | FM | Castellanos Gómez Alejandro | ||
| 15 | FM | Marrujo Pardo Mauricio Em. | 6 | 6½ | Gutiérrez García Marcos |
As is obvious, this will be a decisive round, with Cardoso and Antipov fighting for first place, although a draw would leave the title in Di Benedetto’s hands if he manages to win on board two against Bryce. On board five, there will be a clash between former Benasque Open winners, Dan Zoler and Huesca’s Roberto Cifuentes.