By Assi Philosoph
After three rounds of the Open section, only three players won all three games: the GM Yehuda Gruenfeld (check out his interview here) and the young players Yonatan Weber and Nir Askenazy.
Weber has been playing smoothly and brought a stunning move (19) to his game in the second round.
Weber,Y – Neeman,O
2nd round: Open tournament Maccabiah 2.7.2026
After 14…Bf5 White took the poisoned pawn on c6 (15.Bd3 would have been better) 15. Qxc6? Nxd2 16. Rxd2 16… Rac8 17. Qb7 17… Rfe8 18. e4 18… Rc1+ 19. Bd1
Both White’s bishop and rook are pinned, and soon his pawn will be as well, after 19… Bd6!! opens the file, threatening the bishop and also threatening to trap the queen. It’s a multifunctional move, leaving the bishop “hanging” 20. Be3 (20. Bxd6 Rxe4+ 21.Kf1 Qb5+ and mate next) dxe4 21. O-O, amazingly, there is no way of saving the queen 21… Rc7 22. b4 22… Qb5 and, after a few moves, White resigns.
Another poisoned pawn was taken in the game from the 3rd round:
Askenazy,N – IM Zhizmer,Y
3rd round: Open tournament Maccabiah 3.7.2026
Here, the experienced IM decided to take the b2 pawn 17…Qxb2?? Maybe expecting 17…Rfb1 18.Qxc2. What did white play in this position? You can find the answer at the end of the article.
An even more unfortunate incident happened in Emanuel – Azoulay, where both players missed the mate on g2 on move 28 and the game ended in a draw. Only after the game did they both realise the mistake. The blunder didn’t hold Emanuel back, however, and he went out to win the third round today with good endgame technique against Menachem:
FM Menahem,A – FM Emanuel,Y
3rd round: Open tournament Maccabiah 3.7.2026
Here, Emanuel played 41…g4!, creating a weak h pawn after 42.hxg4 hxg4. The game continued 43.Rd5 Rh7 (immediately attacking the weakness), 44.Bc5 Rh5!, forcing the exchange of rooks and entering a winning endgame, which was converted after 30 more moves.
This was the second victory with the black pieces for Yahav, who is currently leading the closed tournament solo, with 2.5 points out of 3:
The second and third days also brought the youth players to the event, and the fight between them is shaping up to be a close one. As the two highest rated players have already lost points, anything is possible here.
In other news, a small and enjoyable ceremony was held before the start of the 3rd round, in which Moshe Slav, the head of the chess Maccabiah games, donated a total of 10 chess set pieces and a couple of tactic books to the Cuban chess community. Alberto Lazaro Behar Medrano and Bettina Acosta Nuñez, representatives of the Cuba chess delegation, both warmly thanked Moshe.
From left: Nuñez, Behar Medrano and Slav | Photo: Idan Lavi
Alberto also took the time to tell us about the Jewish community in Cuba, with only around 500 Jewish people. For him, visiting Israel is a very special occasion, since his brother has lived here for 27 years. During this time, they have only had one prior opportunity to see each other, so they are trying to make up for lost time and catch up as much as possible between games.
One incredible fact that Alberto shared with us was that one of the synagogues in Havana, the Sinagoga Bet Shalom, was built in the 50’s by Aquiles Capablanca, the brother of no other than the World Champion Jose Raul Capablanca!
The official website of the Jewish community states that “This Patronato complex stands out for its modern and functional architecture. The design includes the large synagogue, offices and a social area. Capablanca mixed modern style with traditional Jewish elements. The building is located in the Vedado neighborhood. It is the spiritual center of the Jewish community in Cuba”.
Sinagoga Bet Shalom | Photo: Facebook Patronato de la Casa de la Comunidad Hebrea de Cuba
For those who still didn’t register for tomorrow’s blitz tournament, please remember you are still very welcome to join. Click on the link.
Answer to the quiz: White played 18.Ra2! trapping the queen and easily winning the game.
Shabbat Shalom!