Thursday, 30 July 2026 · Philippines
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26TH CANNES CHESS FESTIVAL: CEBUANO GM SANCHEZ PREVAILS

GRANDMASTER (GM) Joseph Sanchez (2518) of the Philippines subdued Flavio Perez (2250) of France in the eight round yesterday of the 26th Cannes Chess Festival at the Lerins Island in Cannes, France.

The Cebu native Sanchez, Cannes winner in 2009 and 2011, raised his total 5 points on account of three wins, one loss and four draws in eight outings. He currently shares 9th to 18th place that include his ninth round opponent Lucas Di Nicolantonio (2311) of France.

Top seed GM Etienne Bacrot (2704) of France defeated Igor Blechzin (2442) of Russia to create a five-way tie for first place after over-night solo leader IM Axel Rombaldoni (2441) of Italy was yielded to GM Evgeny Romanov (2628) of Russia. With 6 points each for the leadership board were Bacrot, Romanov, Rombaldoni, GM Alexander Fier (2603) of Brazil and GM Fabien Libiszewski (2509) of France.

Fier nipped IM Fabrizio Bellia (2423) of Italy while Libiszewski crushed GM Valeriy Neverov (2541) of Ukraine.

The 10,000 euros total pot prize tournament which offered 2,200 euros to the winner.

Other line up schedule tournaments of Sanchez are Cappelle la Grande Open in Cappelle la Grande, France on March 3 to 10 and La Roda Open in Albacete, Spain on April 4 to 8.

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