By José Mª González, Jaque No.150

From 6 to 17 March, the XXIV International “Costa del Sol” Tournament was held at the Hotel Las Palomas in Torremolinos, with the participation of players from seven countries, among them six grandmasters. The tournament reached Category 8, so 8 points were needed for a GM norm and 6 for an IM norm.

I am not going to attempt a routine report, since, for reasons our readers will see below, it is not my place to do so. I arrived in Torremolinos “on the wrong foot,” because, owing to some involuntary error, my room had been reserved for one day less than expected. As a result I had to change rooms, hauling all my belongings with me, after a Byzantine discussion with a very undiplomatic concierge.

The tournament was interesting, and after six rounds the equality of forces made it impossible to predict a winner. One could only see that three or four participants would occupy the top places, while the rest formed a compact group with almost the same chances. The representative of the United Arab Emirates, Saeed, stood out: he had recently shared first place in the Dubai Tournament, but his play was not convincing. The Cuban grandmaster Nogueira and the Spanish IM Calvo, on the other hand, gave the impression of strength and security in their games, and they were also visibly eager. But that was not all. The rest appear in the “classification table,” as readers will be able to see. Then came Calvo’s final sprint, which was truly sensational and gave him sole victory.

For professional reasons — one does not live from chess — I had to leave a few days before the end, and Ricardo said to me: “Don’t worry about the tournament; I’ll write the report for you.” I know that my readers like Ricardo’s “style,” and although I had gone to Torremolinos for that very reason, I gladly left him the alternative, because I know the man from Alcoy and his proverbial seriousness. I left calmly, and the next day I spoke by telephone with the person responsible, who told me: “The report is already done and I gave it to Leandro Ramírez so he can send it to you urgently.” Well, eight days have passed, JAQUE has to close, and I have had to improvise “this,” so that at least our readers may know what happened in Torremolinos. In the next issue they will have God’s supplement, with the winner’s impressions.

I need only add that the organization was good; that the tournament was organized by the Málaga Federation and supervised by the international arbiter González Haro, who made his debut here with his title; and that he had the best collaborator in his assistant Martín Marfil, who was kind enough to send me the functional but practical tournament bulletins with exquisite punctuality.

Perhaps the negative side of the tournament was the total absence of publicity, which in other years had been extraordinary. I have not read a single line about this important tournament anywhere. And as “Bombi” would say: why might that be?...

Special congratulations to our collaborator and friend Ricardo Calvo, who has shown once again that he is there.