HAVANA, Cuba.- Capablanca will always be Capablanca And we will never take him down from that throne. Because he was a genius, because he reached the world title, and because he had such a weight on the chessboard that there are still many who consider him part of the Holy Trinity of chess. But Leinier Domínguez —one thing does not take away from the other— is a beast.
Very recently, in Hungary, the Idol of Güines He became the first Cuban-born chess player to climb onto the team podium at an Olympics. Let me clarify: there were several sons of this land who won individual medals on that stage before (including himself), but never, ever, has a Cuban been part of a medal-winning team.
Now just got it as part of the troop of USA —a country to which he moved more than five years ago—, defending a rigorous third board where he faced eight Grandmasters, several of them representing powers such as Ukraine, Hungary, India and China. In the end his team was runner-up, and all his fair compatriots applauded him.
There are those who think that being part of a strong roster (alongside Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, Levon Aronian…) simplifies things, but I am sorry to say that they are wrong. The reason is simple: these tournaments are governed by the Swiss System, which forces the powerful teams to face practically all the big candidates to win. In other words, there is hardly any respite, and every day you are faced with a player capable of punishing any slip-up.
In the particular case of the former first Antillean board, among his adversaries were a former world champion (Ruslan Ponomariov), a dangerous Hungarian of Russian origin (Sanan Sjugirov), the number four in the world ranking (Arjun Erigaisi) and an Olympic and world team champion (Yangyi Yu).
Overall, Leinier collected 5.5 points out of a possible nine (four wins, two losses and three draws), played for a Performance Rating of 2651 and was instrumental in the ninth round victory over the Magyars. Thus, although he dropped seven points from his Elo rating of 2748, the silver medal he won added another page to a record already full of exploits.
It is worth remembering that the 41-year-old Cuban-American has not stopped appearing in the Top 20 of players with the highest coefficient since May 2019, and who from July 2008 to date has never been below the 2700 point barrier. Beyond the talent he brought to life, his strength has been the consistency in work and stability in results.
A true Cuban pride, Leinier was the spearhead of a Caribbean squad that certainly did not achieve outstanding results. Neither the members of the two national teams, nor the other seven chess players who competed under other flags, were able to achieve them.
As for the island teams, the men started in 35th place before the competition and finished in 46th, while the girls fared even worse (they had an average coefficient of 29 and ended in 55th place). On a personal level, the only things worth mentioning are the performances of the debutant Elier Miranda and the veteran Maritza Arribas.
Meanwhile, among the ‘legionaries’ the best was provided by the experienced Neuris Delgado at the second Paraguayan table, and Roberto Carlos Sánchez, at the forefront of the Panamanian quartet.
The Budapest Olympics are over. In September 2026, with the Uzbek city of Tashkent as the venue, the event will return. Will Leinier remain in the very strong American squad? Will the national representation climb positions? Will there be more Cubans competing for other countries? Time will tell.
| CUBANS IN THE 45TH CHESS OLYMPIAD | ||||||
| PLAYER | EQUIPMENT | V | T | D | PTOS | RP |
| Leinier Dominguez | USA | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5.5 | 2651 |
| Elier Miranda | Cuba | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2586 |
| Luis Quesada | Cuba | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5.5 | 2562 |
| Carlos Albornoz | Cuba | 2 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 2547 |
| Neuris Delgado | Paraguay | 5 | 5 | 1 | 7.5 | 2499 |
| Roberto Sanchez | Panama | 6 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 2477 |
| Roberto Garcia | Colombia | 4 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 2453 |
| Omar Almeida | Cuba | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5.5 | 2411 |
| Mariano Ortega | Cape Verde | 5 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 2332 |
| Dylan Berdayes | Cuba | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2310 |
| Zenia Corrales | Mexico | 4 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 2246 |
| Oleiny Linares | Cuba | 2 | 5 | 2 | 4.5 | 2192 |
| Maritza Arribas | Cuba | 5 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 2191 |
| Yerisbel Miranda | Cuba | 6 | 3 | 2 | 7.5 | 2145 |
| Jennifer Perez | Paraguay | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2140 |
| Tania Miranda | Mexico | 5 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 2080 |
| Yaniela Forgas | Cuba | 3 | 1 | 5 | 3.5 | 1889 |
| Ineymig Hernandez | Cuba | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3.5 | 1886 |
