International Master (2006); Grandmaster (2011); Cuban Champion (2013, 2014 & 2015); American Continental Vice Champion (2013); Olympiad Silver Medallist (2014)
Preamble
It is unclear when Ortiz learned chess, but by the time he appears in FIDE dispatches in 2002, he was 17 years old and playing in a category 5 tournament before year's end, becoming a regular participant in domestic and international category tournaments thereafter. It is assumed that he played in numerous locally rated tournaments before this time.
During his career, Ortiz has been an extremely active player throughout Latin America and Spain.
Master Title and Norms
<International Master> Ortiz earned his IM title for his result at the Central American & Caribbean Junior in 2006. (1)
<Grandmaster> Ortiz won his first GM norm at the XVII Cidade Das Burgas International Open in 2008 with 7.5/9, half a point above the requisite amount. His second GM norm came at the XXV Collado Villalba International Open in 2008 in Madrid, where he scored 7.5/9, again half a point above the requisite amount for a GM norm. His third GM norm was earned when he scored 6.5/9 at the Cuban Championship in 2011, also half a point above the requisite amount. The final round of the Cuban Championship was played on 8 February 2011 and as his rating was already above 2500, Ortiz earned his GM title with effect from that day at the age of 25 years, 10 months and 6 days. (2)
Championships
<Junior> One of Ortiz' first excursions into a FIDE-rated tournament was at the Cuban National Junior Championship in 2002 soon after his seventeenth birthday, where he appeared on or near the leader board. (3) In 2004, he was equal first at the Cuban Junior Championship and may have won the championship on tiebreak. (4)
<Provincial and National> Ortiz won the Holguin Provincial Championship in November 2002 and was first or equal first in 2006. He placed equal first at the Cuban Championship in 2011, although he finished second on tiebreak to Yuniesky Quesada Perez. This result earned him his third GM norm. In 2012, he won the Group 1 Championship of Cuba and in 2013 he won the Cuban Championship, successfully defending his title in 2014 and 2015.
<Continental> He was =2nd at the 2010 American Continental Championship, equal third in the 2011 version of the event, and 2nd in 2013, thereby qualifying for the World Cup 2013. He was equal first (fifth on tiebreak) at the American Continental in 2014, thereby qualifying to play in the World Cup 2015.
<World> Ortiz Suarez qualified for the World Cup (2011) through the 2011 American Continental Championship, but lost his first round match to young Russian super-GM Ian Nepomniachtchi. He played in the World Cup (2013), defeating Hungarian GM Judit Polgar in the 1st round by 1.5-0.5, moving on to round 2 when he was eliminated by the eventual semi-finalist, French GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. His results in the American Continental Championship in 2014 qualified him to play in the World Cup (2015), where he again met and lost to Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, this time in the first round and was therefore eliminated from the Cup.
Tournaments
<2002-2006> In October 2002, soon after gaining his initial FIDE rating, Ortiz participated in the category 5 round robin Adelquis Remon Memo event that was staged in Holguin in Cuba, scoring 6/10 and placing equal third behind Diasmany Otero Acosta and Osmany Perea. He won the round robin Protesta de Baragua played in Celebrado en Mella in Cuba in March 2003. His last events in 2003 were the category 3 round robin Memorial Migoya, where he placed equal third and the category 4 event in Ciego de Avila in Cuba that celebrated the 25th anniversary of ESEN (5) where he placed equal second behind Fidel Corrales Jimenez. Ortiz successfully defended his Protesta de Baragua title in 2004, again a category 3 event.
<2007-2008> Ortiz had some solid rating boosting results in mid-2007, including equal second at the sixth Ortigueira International Open behind Ilmars Starostits. Late 2007 saw Ortiz playing tournaments on the Spain circuit, with mixed results evening out to rating neutral results overall (over 2400 by that time). Returning to Cuba in late 2007, Ortiz returned some mediocre results on the domestic scene for a few months until he returned to the Spain in 2008 and placed a solid equal second at pamplona in June and won the Burgas International Open in July, the result that earned him his first GM norm. He then won the XXV Aniversario Parla 2008 in Parla Madrid in September. He also won the XXV Collado Villalba International Open in 2008 with 7.5/9 ahead of joint runners-up Alexandre Dgebuadze and Renier Vazquez Igarza and several other players, this result earning him his second GM norm.
<2009-2010> The new year saw him returning to Spain for an extended tour of its circuit, steadily building his experience and his rating without actually winning a tournament until September when he won the Albacete International on tiebreak ahead of Azer Mirzoev, by which time he had gained his GM title and his rating was well over 2500. 2010 passed without much of note until his result in the American Continental (see above in "Championships") and his equal third behind Sergei Tiviakov and Emilio Cordova at the JAVH McGregor event in Colombia in December.
<2011-2012> 2011 saw Ortiz reach a new peak rating during the year from a number of strong results, including equal second with 7/9 at the Aveiro International, half a point behind Aleksa Strikovic, a score of 6.5/9 to place =4th at Pamplona, half a point behind co-leaders Julio Ernesto Granda Zuniga, Eduardo Iturrizaga Bonelli and Branko Damljanovic equal second with 7/9 at the International Open in Badalona behind Magesh Chandran Panchanathan 6.5/9 at the Panama Open, a point behind the winner Sergei Tiviakov; equal first with 6.5/9 alongside Emilio Cordova at the pre-JAHV Mcgregor event in Colombia and equal fourth with 8/10 at the JAHV McGregor, half a point behind Bruzon, Bartlomiej Macieja and Tiviakov. 2012 featured wins at the ITT UDI Sub27 Universitario in Bucaramanga in Colombia in March, at the Semana Santa L.A.B. International in Bogota, Colombia in April, at the 35th Barbera del Valles Open in Spain in July, equal first at the Sant Marti International Open and equal third at Pamplona also in July, equal second behind Alexander G Beliavsky at the Simon Bolivar Tournament in Venezuela in September and winning at the ITT Hotel Araucano 2012 in November.
<2013-2014> Ortiz's best results in 2013 were equal 2nd behind Cristhian Cruz Sanchez at the 36th Barbera del Valles Open, equal first at the 7th Central University International Festival Universidad Central in Colombia in October and equal first at the Panama Open alongside Bruzon, Cori and Bernal Gonzalez Acosta, also in October. In 2014 he played on the US circuit and his best results were equal first at the Capablanca Memorial Premier alongside Cordova, Sebastian Bogner and Yusnel Bacallao Alonso, first at the 2014 Sunshine Summer Open in Orlando Florida, first at the 2nd Annual DC International in Arlington Virginia ahead of Sergei Azarov, 5.5/9 at the Millionaire Chess (Open Section) and then returned to Latin America in December to place equal second behind Bruzon at the 26th Carlos Torre Repetto International Tournament staged in Merida in the Yucatan and equal second, again behind Bruzon at the Latin American Cup in Ecuador.
<2015> The year started with Ortiz winning the Cuban Championship for the third year in succession and followed up with winning the sixth Alajuela International in Costa Rica ahead of Vladimir Georgiev and Nikola Mitkov. In July 2015, he was =2nd behind Vitaly Kunin at the 50th Capablanca International in Havana.
Team Events
Ortiz first played for Cuba in an Olympiad in 2012. In 2014, he won an individual silver medal playing board four for Cuba in Tromso Olympiad (2014) with his team placing seventh. (6) He played for Cuba at the Panamerican Team Championship in 2013, winning team silver and individual bronze (board three). He also played board four for Cuba in the World Team Championship (2015). (7)
He started playing in the Spanish League (CECLUB) in 2009.
Rating history
Ortiz's highest rating to date to 2625 in March 2015.
Sources and References
<Sources> (1) http://ratings.fide.com/card.phtml?...; (2) http://ratings.fide.com/title_appli...; (3) exact result unknown; his reported result was 5/8 so that depending upon the result of the ninth game, he could have finished as high as =3rd: http://ratings.fide.com/tournament_...; (4) https://ratings.fide.com/tournament...; (5) ESEN is the Empresa de Seguros Nacionales, the National Insurance Company of Cuba; (6) http://www.olimpbase.org/players/fd...; (7) [ http://www.olimpbase.org/playersp/e...
<References> Wikipedia article: Isan Reynaldo Ortiz Suárez
Kibitzing
