Leinier Dominguez (Cuba) and Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine) are sharing the lead after three rounds at the Capablanca Memorial in Havana, Cuba. Both players scored 2 out of 3 in the 6 player double round robin where Yuniesky Quesada Perez (Cuba), Ian Nepomniachtchi, Vladimir Potkin (both Russia) and Viktor Laznicka (Czech Republic) also play.

The venue of the Capablanca Memorial: Hotel Habana Riviera, located on the Malecón waterfront boulevard in Havana, Cuba. | Photo © Robert Ris, all other photos © Miguel Ernesto Gómez & María del Carmen Ramón for Mi Columna Deportiva

In the second round Vassily Ivachuk took over the lead from Leinier Dominguez, the only player to score a win in the first round. The Cuban is known as a strong theoretician, and maybe that's why Ivanchuk went for the 3.Bb5+ variation, something he also did successfully 21 years ago against Garry Kasparov. Back then, 22-year-old "Chucky" beat The Boss and won the tournament, already for the second time in his career. Where Kasparov chose 3...Nd7, Dominguez played the more solid 3...Bd7 but he quickly found himself in a worse ending. 

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Yuniesky Quesada again made a good impression as he got a nice advantage out of the opening against the normally very solid Viktor Laznicka. But then the Cuban blundered horribly:

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Vladimir Potkin has been Ian Nepomniachtchi's second at several tournaments. Perhaps it's no surprise that a game like the following was played between these two:

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After three rounds, Domginuez still hasn't drawn a game. On Sunday the Cuban beat Potkin.

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The other two games ended in draws and so Dominguez and Ivanchuk are both on 2 out of 3. 

The 47th Capablanca Memorial runs until May 14th in the Hotel Habana Riviera in Havana, Cuba. Besides the Grupo Elite there is also a Grupo Premier (a 10-player round robin) and an open tournament.

Capablanca Memorial | Grupo Elite | Schedule and results