Chronicle of the IX Josep Xapellí Memorial

This Sunday, May 11th, the 9th Josep Xapellí Memorial Tournament was held in Lloret de Mar, with 38 players participating from various municipalities in the Girona region. The tournament unfolded in an atmosphere of utmost sportsmanship and served to promote chess among children, which is the main objective of this championship, set to celebrate its tenth edition next year.

The Memorial honors Josep Xapellí, founder of the chess section of the Peña Barcelonista and the Lloret Chess Club, and is particularly noted for his work promoting chess among young people. The tournament allowed participants to develop their skills over eight rapid games, with a time control of 5 minutes plus a 3-second increment per move, at the Puntito de Lloret—a venue that, in recent years, has become the established home of this competition.

This year, the champion was Lev Shustov, a young man from Lloret de Mar of Ukrainian origin, who, with 7.5 points out of a possible 8, decisively beat the other participants. He was closely followed by Martí Horta (Santa Eugènia), with 6.5 points, and Robert Trota (Girona), with 6 points.

Regarding the different age categories, the winners were: Daniel Biag (Lloret), under-14 champion; Jan Jané (Gerunda), under-12 champion; David Escriu (Playa de Aro), under-10 champion; and Oriol Gómez (Playa de Aro), under-8 champion. The award for best non-federated player went to the young debutant Martí López.

During the awards ceremony, and as is the tradition of this championship, all participants were recognized for their efforts with a commemorative medal.