Revista PODIUM, septiembre-diciembre 2019; 14(3): 543-547
Translated from the original in spanish
Origin and impact of the Chávez chess Cup
Génesis e impacto de la Copa Chávez de ajedrez
Jorge Luis Díaz González
Universidad de Pinar del Río "Hermanos Saíz Montes de Oca", Pinar del Río, Cuba. E-mail: jorgel.diaz@upr.edu.cu
Received: July 24th, 2019.
Approved: September 3rd, 2019.
Sport, in addition to imposing itself as a challenge, as a rivalry of skills between human beings, also unites peoples as a cultural element of celebration of goodwill and development of the best ethical values. The Chavez Chess Cup is one of those events that emerged for the first time, in Venezuela, in honor of the distinguished Hugo Chavez Frias, in June 2011 and transcended to the present, maintaining the sporting spirit, the Latin American ideas of Bolivar, Marti, Fidel and Chavez, in addition to expressing with facts his noblest desire to see a New America united and proud of its children.
The idea arose from the Cuban collaborator Dr. C. Jorge Luis Díaz González (author of this paper), professor at the Faculty of Physical Culture at the University of Pinar del Río, "Hermanos Saiz Montes de Oca" who at that time was fulfilling an internationalist mission in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. The proposal was promoted by Mr. Alberto Castillo who directed the Galarraga Park, located in the Altagracia sector of the Capital District as previously assigned by Captain Eliecer Otaiza and with the approval of Deputy Robert Serra, currently converted into Venezuelan martyrs. There was also the collaboration of the baseball front of the Mayor's Office of Caracas, led by Rinaldi Carapa, among other enthusiasts who then joined the sporting event.
In this pristine event, the best players of the District were invited, at the level of Parishes, 12 athletes per sex, for a total of 24 athletes who competed in the Cup. The winners were Mauricio Andrés Ramírez and Daniela Austillo, both athletes from Galarraga. This contest constituted for the winners and other athletes an incentive to continue training and studying more this sport science. In another way it served as a starting point to participate in larger events, such as the case of the young Mauricio who formed the Venezuelan chess team, participant in several international events, including the chess tournament Capablanca 2019. Finally, the first Chavez Cup culminated with a simultaneous match where the chess promoters: Ruben Dario Real Perdomo, Andres Gutierrez, Maria E. Duartes, Alvi Dayana Páez and Hirasuf E. Chapellin incorporated . All these athletes were also trained in the well-known Galarraga Park and although historically it was the site where the event took place, one should not miss the opportunity to add that it was also in this site where Mrs. Maria E. was. Duartes, recognized promoter of the sport science, shows in the context of a scientific event a Cuban experience of chess, applied to mathematics, put into practice in the school Antonio Ornes. The table below summarizes the procedures and benefits of this pedagogical experience.match
Chart 1. - Relationship of interdisciplinary nodes between chess and mathematics in its three units (calculation,
numeral and geometry). For the first grade
In the concluding part of this memorable Chavez Cup, the medal was presented for the first time to the coach of the participating athletes in recognition of their work. The award was made by the leader of the commune and the mayor of Caracas, with the support and congratulations of the director of Imdere (Municipal Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation) Eliecer Otaiza, now a Venezuelan martyr, romoted to post mortem commander. On that occasion, this personality proceeded to send diplomas and letters of recognition to the participants of the event, in addition to suggesting to all those who attended there that they participate in the vacation plan of Buen Vivir (Good Living), a program promoted by Chávez.
Everything seemed to indicate that this Chavez Cup, which was born in the Galarraga Park, needed to expand and multiply like Chavez's great ideas. By December 2012, a simultaneous event was held at the Divina Pastora, the activity was presided over by Otaiza himself, accompanied by Mr. Castillo and it is there where Professor Jorge Luis communicates his intention to develop these Cups in Cuba, once the mission ends, which confirms his solid commitment to the Venezuelan cause, the cause of the people who raise their voice of justice and, in addition, for the eternal gratitude he felt and feels for President Chávez.
The founder professor in this eventuality shows a scheme that allows him to explain the project of this Chavez Cup as a sequence of annual events around chess and Latin American unity. On the other hand, Otaiza shows to the group of guests, who participated in that encounter, his project of development of the swimming and promises his participation in the delivery of means to the park Galarraga, which would start from a project able to finance these actions.
Once installed again in Cuba, the academic and Dr. C. Jorge Luis Díaz González, in August 2013, receives in his house the Ambassador of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Mr. Edgardo Ramírez, where he explains in more detail the project of the Chávez Cup, from the University of Sport in Pinar del Río. With the approval of the Ambassador, on March 5, 2014 the first Chavez Cup begins in Cuba, where the following personalities participate: Dr. C. Yorkys Mayor Hernández, Rector of the University of Pinar del Río "Hermanos Saíz Montes de Oca" (UPR), the Master. Yadira Zenobia Pérez Díaz, Dean of the Faculty of Physical Culture, among other important figures of the educational center.
This Cup, from a technical point of view, is played by a closed system, all against all. In 2015, two groups participated: one for children, with 8 participating talented children, won by Liván Galá, with five points, and another for adults, with ten participants, in which Yaimara Díaz Leal won, with eight points.
In 2016, only one group of 15 competitors participates, the winner is again Yaimara Díaz Leal, who is also the provincial university champion, as she wins the competition with 11 and a half points out of a possible 14.
In 2017, 15 players participate and finally Yaimara Díaz Leal wins with 13 and a half points. In 2018, the system of Semi-Fast games is played, with a total of ten participants, with the presence of representatives of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Yadira Zenobia Pérez Díaz, dean of the Faculty, opened the session by reading an electronic dedication issued by Mr. Alí Rodríguez Araque, ambassador of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in Cuba at that stage. At the end of the event, the winner was again Yaimara Díaz Leal.
In the year 2019, there is an increase of participants with 20 players, among them, once again, the presence of athletes from Venezuela. It is played in four groups to determine the winner of each, which add up to a total of four who play the grand final to three minutes with two seconds bonus per play. Unexpectedly, a new winner emerges, athlete Mario Daniel Diaz Garcia who defeats MI William Hernandez Gonzalez in the grand final.
It is important to highlight that, to date, student Yaimara Díaz Leal had set a record of five consecutive won editions until 2018. The new winner, invited by event organizer Mario Daniel Diaz Garcia, who undoubtedly did not look bad in the event, stopped this record in 2019.
The Chavez Cup, held in March 2019, allowed the formation of the team from the University of Pinar del Rio to AJEDUNI (chess within the universities of Ibero-America), composed of Mario Daniel Diaz, International Master (MI) William Hernandez Gonzalez and as coach to the National Master (MN) and Dr. C. Jorge Luis Diaz Gonzalez. This team reached third place among 22 participating teams.
All these results are evidence of what the Chavez Cup has meant for Cuban and Latin American chess players who have had the opportunity to participate in these events. Among the institutions that have collaborated with the event are the UPR, the National Institute of Sport, Physical Education and Recreation (Inder) in Pinar del Río, the Higher Latin American Chess Institute (ISLA) and the Cuban Chess Federation (FCA).
For all of the above, it has been declared to establish a circuit of tournament chains and include coaches and analysts to improve the results of the different categories in which the sports combines are included. This Chavez Cup is, moreover, inclusive, as it adds to its tournaments different representatives of the penal population, in a way that promotes the culture of human development and promotes the exercise of our best moral and civic values. The Chavez Cup has arrived, without a doubt, to stay.
In this work, in a general way, the fundamental elements that characterize the genesis and the impact of the Chavez Cup that emerged in Venezuela and multiplied in Pinar del Rio, Cuba, have been shown, with very favorable results.
For a better deepening of the investigations around Chess, applied in Venezuela and that through the methodological cycle of the Chavez Cup could be transferred to the Cuban reality, we have consulted the works of: Pérez-Peña, L. E. (2015); Barturén, J. I. R. (2019); Camejo, G. G. G. and others (2019) and de Lillo, J. (2019).
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
Barturén, J. I. R. (2019). Uso del ajedrez para mejorar los niveles atencionales de estudiantes de primaria en una institución educativa pública. EDUCARE ET COMUNICARE: Revista de investigación de la Facultad de Humanidades, 7 (1), 41-50.
Camejo, G. G. G., Piñeiro, M. T., Aliaga, F. N., & Martínez, I. G. (2019). El salto del Caballo. Aproximación a la didáctica del ajedrez (Original). Revista científica OLIMPIA, 16 (53), 35-47.
De Lillo, J. (2019). Encuentros con los asturianos de Venezuela: ocurrió en dos ocasiones, hace treinta años. Anuario de la Sociedad Protectora de la Balesquida, (4), 279-295.
Pérez-Peña, L. E. (2015). El ajedrez en el desarrollo intelectual de la primera infancia. VARONA, (60), 54-60.
