45th VILLA DE BENASQUE INTERNATIONAL CHESS OPEN 2026. ROUND 8
A change of American at the top of the standings following the sudden withdrawal of the leader up to round 7. The new leader is the top seed, GM Mikhail Antipov, after defeating Germany’s Benet Hagner with the black pieces.
From the outset, Antipov went for the win, entering a line in which he sacrificed the exchange for the initiative, and after four hours of play he managed to secure victory.
On board 2, Murcian FM Alejandro Castellanos and Bulgarian GM Momchil Petkov could not get beyond a draw, despite battling for more than three and a half hours.
In the group of players on 5.5 points, only the game between Diego Vergara and Indian GM Aditya Samant ended in a draw, while José Gabriel Cardoso, Bryce Tiglon, Cristian Andrés Hernández, Edoardo Di Benedetto, Renier Castellanos, Aron Pasti and Jesús María de la Villa all scored victories.
Among the Aragonese players on 5 points, Roberto Cifuentes and Raúl Moya won their games against Daniel Romero and Adrian Villuendas, while Catalin Conon earned a creditable draw against GM Daniel Campora.
Round 8 results:
| 1 | IM | Hagner Bennet | 6 | 0 – 1 | 6 | GM | Antipov Mikhail Al. |
| 2 | FM | Castellanos Gómez Alejandro | 6 | ½ – ½ | 6 | GM | Petkov Momchil |
| 3 | IM | Vergara Anton Diego | 5½ | ½ – ½ | 5½ | GM | Samant Aditya S |
| 4 | GM | Ubilava Elizbar | 5½ | 0 – 1 | 5½ | GM | Cardoso Cardoso José Gabriel |
| 5 | GM | Tiglon Bryce | 5½ | 1 – 0 | 5½ | FM | Krauchi Romero Martín |
| 6 | GM | Avila Pavas Santiago | 5½ | 0 – 1 | 5½ | IM | Hernández Cristian Andres |
| 7 | FM | Vergara Jofre Felipe | 5½ | 0 – 1 | 5½ | IM | Di Benedetto Edoardo |
| 8 | GM | Castellanos Rodríguez Renier | 5½ | 1 – 0 | 5½ | FM | Uber Gracia Hugo |
| 9 | IM | Pásti Áron | 5½ | 1 – 0 | 5½ | Odriozola Coscolin Alex | |
| 10 | GM | De La Villa Garcia Jesus Maria | 5½ | 1 – 0 | 5½ | Camps Abadía Arnau |
Overall standings:
| 1 | GM | Antipov Mikhail Al. | 7 |
| 2 | GM | Petkov Momchil | 6½ |
| 3 | GM | Cardoso Cardoso José Gabriel | 6½ |
| 4 | GM | Castellanos Rodríguez Renier | 6½ |
| 5 | GM | Tiglon Bryce | 6½ |
| 6 | IM | Hernández Cristian Andres | 6½ |
| 7 | IM | Pásti Áron | 6½ |
| 8 | FM | Castellanos Gómez Alejandro | 6½ |
| 9 | IM | Di Benedetto Edoardo | 6½ |
| 10 | GM | De La Villa Garcia Jesus Maria | 6½ |
| 11 | GM | Samant Aditya S | 6 |
| 12 | IM | Vergara Anton Diego | 6 |
| 13 | FM | Zamengo Fulvio | 6 |
| 14 | IM | Habans Aguerrea Javier | 6 |
Veterans’ standings
| 1 | GM | De La Villa Garcia Jesus Maria | 6½ |
| 2 | GM | Cifuentes Parada Roberto | 6 |
| 3 | GM | Ubilava Elizbar | 5½ |
| 4 | Rodríguez García Manuel Francisco | 5½ | |
| 5 | GM | Campora Daniel H. | 5 |
Junior standings
| 1 | IM | Habans Aguerrea Javier | 6 |
| 2 | IM | Xie Felix | 6 |
| 3 | IM | Hagner Bennet | 6 |
| 4 | FM | Povshednyi Ivan | 6 |
| 5 | AIM | Alonso Vargas David | 6 |
Women’s standings
| 1 | IM | Matnadze Bujiashvili Ann | 5½ |
| 2 | WGM | Cervantes Landeiro Thalia | 5 |
| 3 | WFM | Hernández Bermúdez Manuela | 5 |
| 4 | Miranda Herrera Belen | 5 | |
| 5 | Rodríguez Canovas Elena | 5 |
Elo Band A
| 1 | IM | Hernández Cristian Andres | 6½ |
| 2 | FM | Castellanos Gómez Alejandro | 6½ |
| 3 | FM | Zamengo Fulvio | 6 |
| 4 | IM | Xie Felix | 6 |
| 5 | GM | Cifuentes Parada Roberto | 6 |
Elo Band B
| 1 | AIM | Alonso Vargas David | 6 |
| 2 | CM | Castro Quijano Eduardo | 6 |
| 3 | Martín Cabeza Nicolas | 5½ | |
| 4 | Torres Rebolledo Víctor | 5½ | |
| 5 | Rodríguez García Manuel Francisco | 5½ |
Elo Band C
| 1 | Moya Gimeno Raúl | 6 | |
| 2 | Gutiérrez Toro Raúl | 5½ | |
| 3 | Ibáñez Valentín Gabriel | 5½ | |
| 4 | Gallardo Retortillo Enrique | 5½ | |
| 5 | Docampo Fuertes Marcelo Inaki | 5½ |
Elo Band D
| 1 | WFM | Hernández Bermúdez Manuela | 5 |
| 2 | Lertxundi Azpiazu Jon | 5 | |
| 3 | Paniagua Tomillo Iván | 5 | |
| 4 | Crespo Laborda Alberto | 5 | |
| 5 | Ximénez Crespo Iñigo | 4½ |
Elo Band E
| 1 | Chang Eli | 4½ | |
| 2 | Latre Rodríguez Francisco | 4½ | |
| 3 | Beltran Romay Abel | 4½ | |
| 4 | De La Hera Narganes Carlos | 4 | |
| 5 | De La Losa Casaus Carlos | 4 |
Aragonese players
| 1 | IM | Vergara Anton Diego | 6 |
| 2 | GM | Cifuentes Parada Roberto | 6 |
| 3 | Moya Gimeno Raúl | 6 | |
| 4 | CM | Conon Catalin | 5½ |
| 5 | FM | Escartín Lacasa José | 5½ |
Round 9 pairings:
| 1 | GM | Antipov Mikhail Al. | 7 | 6½ | GM | Castellanos Rodríguez Renier | |
| 2 | GM | Petkov Momchil | 6½ | 6½ | IM | Pásti Áron | |
| 3 | GM | Cardoso Cardoso José Gabriel | 6½ | 6½ | GM | De La Villa Garcia Jesus Maria | |
| 4 | IM | Hernández Cristian Andres | 6½ | 6½ | GM | Tiglon Bryce | |
| 5 | IM | Di Benedetto Edoardo | 6½ | 6½ | FM | Castellanos Gómez Alejandro | |
| 6 | GM | Samant Aditya S | 6 | 6 | IM | Xie Felix | |
| 7 | FM | Zamengo Fulvio | 6 | 6 | GM | Zoler Dan | |
| 8 | Sanz Gorospe Ibai | 6 | 6 | IM | Hagner Bennet | ||
| 9 | FM | Vioque González Nicolas | 6 | 6 | IM | Habans Aguerrea Javier | |
| 10 | FM | Navarro Martínez Víctor | 6 | 6 | IM | Vergara Anton Diego | |
| 11 | GM | Cifuentes Parada Roberto | 6 | 6 | CM | Castro Quijano Eduardo | |
| 12 | Moya Gimeno Raúl | 6 | 6 | FM | Povshednyi Ivan | ||
| 13 | FM | Krauchi Romero Martín | 5½ | 6 | AIM | Alonso Vargas David | |
| 14 | Jiménez Freniche David | 5½ | 5½ | GM | Avila Pavas Santiago | ||
| 15 | Yu Tianxiang Carlos | 5½ | 5½ | FM | Marrujo Pardo Mauricio E |
The two decisive rounds are now approaching, with the leader having the white pieces against Renier Castellanos, and four clashes between players who are half a point behind. On paper, these are very interesting games, in which the higher-rated players are expected to put pressure on their opponents.