45th VILLA DE BENASQUE INTERNATIONAL CHESS OPEN 2026. ROUND 3
After the third round, which saw four draws on the top ten boards, only Antipov, Jacobson, Petkov, Samant and Tiglon have a perfect score among the top 10 players in the initial ranking.
The surprises began on board six, with Huesca’s José Escartín drawing against GM Santiago Avila and Zaragoza’s Máximo Lorente holding GM Renier Castellanos to a draw.
For the third round in a row, board 11 was the first board on which a favourite was defeated. American player Thalia Cervantes, playing with the black pieces, defeated IM Felix Xie in one of the longest games of the round and continues to lead the women’s standings.
Among the veterans, Elizbar Ubilava remains in strong form with another victory.
Round 3 results:
| 1 | GM | Antipov Mikhail Al. | 1 – 0 | FM | López Mijail Nicolas |
| 2 | Moreno Estébanez Patxi | 0 – 1 | GM | Jacobson Brandon | |
| 3 | GM | Petkov Momchil | 1 – 0 | FM | Romero Pallares Daniel |
| 4 | FM | Garrigue Julian | 0 – 1 | GM | Samant Aditya S |
| 5 | FM | Bravo De La Vega Álvaro | 0 – 1 | GM | Tiglon Bryce |
| 6 | GM | Avila Pavas Santiago | ½ – ½ | FM | Escartín Lacasa José |
| 7 | FM | Lorente Melcón Máximo | ½ – ½ | GM | Castellanos Rodríguez Renier |
| 8 | Gómez Pastrana Juan | 0 – 1 | IM | Habans Aguerrea Javier | |
| 9 | IM | Vergara Anton Diego | ½ – ½ | GM | Jansa Vlastimil |
| 10 | Jin Ruijun | ½ – ½ | FM | Povshednyi Ivan | |
| 11 | IM | Xie Felix | 0 – 1 | WGM | Cervantes Landeiro Thalia |
| 12 | GM | Ubilava Elizbar | 1 – 0 | FM | Atares Buisan Sergio |
| 13 | Torres Rebolledo Víctor | 0 – 1 | FM | Zamengo Fulvio | |
| 14 | Asensio Asensio Nicolas | 0 – 1 | FM | Montoliu Cerveró Francisco | |
| 15 | FM | Sánchez Aller Fernando | 1 – 0 | Sanz Gorospe Ibai |
Overall standings
| 1 | FM | Montoliu Cerveró Francisco | ESP | 3 |
| 2 | GM | Jacobson Brandon | USA | 3 |
| 3 | GM | Antipov Mikhail Al. | USA | 3 |
| 4 | GM | Samant Aditya S | IND | 3 |
| 5 | GM | Petkov Momchil | BUL | 3 |
| 6 | GM | Tiglon Bryce | USA | 3 |
| 7 | IM | Habans Aguerrea Javier | ESP | 3 |
| 8 | FM | Zamengo Fulvio | ITA | 3 |
| 9 | GM | Ubilava Elizbar | ESP | 3 |
| 10 | WGM | Cervantes Landeiro Thalia | USA | 3 |
| 11 | FM | Jing Andrew | USA | 3 |
| 12 | FM | Vesga Izeta Markel | ESP | 3 |
| 13 | FM | Sánchez Aller Fernando | ESP | 3 |
| 14 | López Molina Santiago Jorge | ESP | 3 | |
| 15 | Nedov Octavian | ESP | 3 |
Veterans’ standings:
| 1 | GM | Ubilava Elizbar | 3 |
| 2 | López Molina Santiago Jorge | 3 | |
| 3 | GM | Jansa Vlastimil | 2½ |
| 4 | GM | Cifuentes Parada Roberto | 2½ |
| 5 | GM | Campora Daniel H. | 2½ |
Junior standings
| 1 | IM | Habans Aguerrea Javier | 3 |
| 2 | FM | Jing Andrew | 3 |
| 3 | FM | Lorente Melcón Máximo | 2½ |
| 4 | FM | Povshednyi Ivan | 2½ |
| 5 | FM | Krauchi Romero Martín | 2½ |
Women’s standings
| 1 | WGM | Cervantes Landeiro Thalia | 3 |
| 2 | Moreno Burillo María | 2½ | |
| 3 | Carabantes Otal Laia | 2½ | |
| 4 | IM | Matnadze Bujiashvili Ann | 2 |
| 5 | CM | Estévez Sacristán Deva | 2 |
Tomorrow will be a tough day, with chess throughout the day. In the morning, the Blitz tournament will be played with a full field, and in the afternoon the fourth round of the Open will take place, with the following pairings on the top boards:
| 1 | FM | Zamengo Fulvio | GM | Antipov Mikhail Al. | |
| 2 | GM | Jacobson Brandon | GM | Ubilava Elizbar | |
| 3 | FM | Jing Andrew | GM | Petkov Momchil | |
| 4 | GM | Samant Aditya S | FM | Montoliu Cerveró Francisco | |
| 5 | GM | Tiglon Bryce | FM | Vesga Izeta Markel | |
| 6 | IM | Habans Aguerrea Javier | FM | Sánchez Aller Fernando | |
| 7 | WGM | Cervantes Landeiro Thalia | GM | Cardoso Cardoso José Gabriel | |
| 8 | Nedov Octavian | Xu Yang | |||
| 9 | López Molina Santiago Jorge | FM | Navarro Martínez Víctor | ||
| 10 | GM | Avila Pavas Santiago | FM | Lorente Melcón Máximo | |
| 11 | GM | Zoler Dan | FM | Cervelló Tost Ferran | |
| 12 | GM | Castellanos Rodríguez Renier | Odriozola Coscolin Alex | ||
| 13 | IM | Pásti Áron | FM | Cereijo Suárez Alejandro | |
| 14 | FM | Escartín Lacasa José | IM | Vergara Anton Diego | |
| 15 | GM | Jansa Vlastimil | GM | Cifuentes Parada Roberto |