HAVANA, June, 6 – Cuban Grand master Leinier Dominguez just beat Vesselin Topalov in 71 moves of a Sicilian Defense, Taimanov Variation, to win the FIDE Grand Prix Thessaloniki Tournament with 8 points.
The Cuban needed a win to top the standings after the previous leaders Gata Kamski and Italian Fabiano Caruana in the last round drew to finish with 7.5 units.
After losing his first match to Kamski, Dominguez recovered and won 6 games and tied four, in a tournament where he was second-to-last in ELO with 2723.
He won, according to http://www.2700chess.com 30 ELO points and jumped to the 11th position in the world with 2757, his highest ever.
This is probably the best performance ever by a Cuban in a tournament since former world champion Jose Raul Capablanca.
Source: Radio Rebelde