HI mate! I would be happy to help you. Interesting topic.
How popular is chess today in the country?
That's what we are going to find out :D
Chess has been a matter of state since the days of the soviet influence. Before that we already had our world champion but it was after the castros got in the power when it became rally massive. We even got to organize a chess olympiad!!!
In the early 2000s a new genearation became known and many talented GMs achieved imporant results internationally: Leinier Dominguez, Lazaro Bruzon, Yuniesly Quesada, among others. The economic and political problems made those GMs and many others abandon the country and for the 1st time in a long time we have no elite players although a lot of promisssing youg GMs.
Chess is still practiced by millions of cubans everywhere. Many open areas are popular for chess practicing, I would recomend the Prado Promenade in Havana, where many chess hustlers hang around and sometimes even make a living out of it, but in Havana in any corner you will find a small group of people playing good chess.
In the early 2000s a new genearation became known and many talented GMs achieved imporant results internationally: Leinier Dominguez, Lazaro Bruzon, Yuniesly Quesada, among others. The economic and political problems made those GMs and many others abandon the country and for the 1st time in a long time we have no elite players although a lot of promisssing youg GMs.
Chess is still practiced by millions of cubans everywhere. Many open areas are popular for chess practicing, I would recomend the Prado Promenade in Havana, where many chess hustlers hang around and sometimes even make a living out of it, but in Havana in any corner you will find a small group of people playing good chess.
Will you travel to cuba to produce such documentary???
Thanks for all those info.
Yes I will travel to cuba, waiting for the country to reopen border when the situation gets better (July ?). Bear in mind this will be an amateur video/documentary. But I'm sure that with only a few 4k rushes in different places,+ some interviews here and there, I can work something out.
Yes I will travel to cuba, waiting for the country to reopen border when the situation gets better (July ?). Bear in mind this will be an amateur video/documentary. But I'm sure that with only a few 4k rushes in different places,+ some interviews here and there, I can work something out.
Hi
In my time, 80's and 90's, there was Capablanca club, near malecon. Interesting street chess players went there. Remember Pedro el loco, he put a plastic frog near his board, for luck. Or Pitagoras, some kind of crazy matematician. Ask for the place.
In my time, 80's and 90's, there was Capablanca club, near malecon. Interesting street chess players went there. Remember Pedro el loco, he put a plastic frog near his board, for luck. Or Pitagoras, some kind of crazy matematician. Ask for the place.
At the chess club in Trinidad there is a fellow named Ernesto, club champion, who beat me 5-6 games in a row, then went deep into analysis of his "mistakes" (equivocaciones) when I finally got a draw. The club is right off a big square, and I'm sure you can find Ernesto there. It was a couple of years ago, before travel was totally shut down, but I can probably find more exact information if you want.
I played in a couple of clubs and observed a regional tournament of high school kids, at a club with a huge mural of Che playing. Cubans are good, knowledgeable, and friendly. And they have great respect for chess talent. Every chess player I met wanted to know if I had heard of Leinier Dominguez, who I understand flies the US flag now.
I played in a couple of clubs and observed a regional tournament of high school kids, at a club with a huge mural of Che playing. Cubans are good, knowledgeable, and friendly. And they have great respect for chess talent. Every chess player I met wanted to know if I had heard of Leinier Dominguez, who I understand flies the US flag now.
Do you have a link to your other work? would be interested in seeing other chess documentaries you may have made
Camaguey was the most active club I saw. Don't let "club" turn you away from "street" chess. In small and mid-size towns the club is just a hole-in-the-wall where avid players gather. In other words it is only about ten feet from the street, and usually open to it.
The equipment was primitive, old soviet analog clocks, cheap plastic sets, but the level of play was solid. The prestige of the game was much higher than in the US or anywhere else I have observed. If you make a good move, heads nod and the watchers say 'muy fuerte, muy fuerte.'
Cuba itself is sad. Whether you blame it on the US embargo, and thus capitalism, or on the mistakes of the communist party, the people and country are 50-100 years behind much of the world in economic progress -- except in medicine and education -- living as my grandparents did during my childhood.
Down with the embargo! Let Cuba make its own future.
The equipment was primitive, old soviet analog clocks, cheap plastic sets, but the level of play was solid. The prestige of the game was much higher than in the US or anywhere else I have observed. If you make a good move, heads nod and the watchers say 'muy fuerte, muy fuerte.'
Cuba itself is sad. Whether you blame it on the US embargo, and thus capitalism, or on the mistakes of the communist party, the people and country are 50-100 years behind much of the world in economic progress -- except in medicine and education -- living as my grandparents did during my childhood.
Down with the embargo! Let Cuba make its own future.
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