Belmopan Library Swiss 2026
- Belize Chess Federation
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
Updated: 7 hours ago
On the 7th February 2026 the Belmopan Library hosted our first event of the year. This event had players from Belmopan, San Ignacio, Belize City and special guests from Mexico! We also had Curtis Andrade and Gregory McGibney who recently came in 2rd and 3rd respectively at the Junior Chess Championship in January.
The tournament was an open tournament with a 5 round Swiss format. Time control for the event was 15+10.
Joining us was for the event was CM Wilberth Sebastian Lopez Fuentes and his brother Andre Nicolas Lopez Fuentes from Mexico. Last year Wilberth won a tournament at this very venue and he comes back again in 2026 having earned the CM title!
Round by Round Highlights:
Round 3
Rank 12 Kuang LIn faced off against CM Wilberth Sebastian Lopez Fuentes.
In a worse position, Kuang blundered on move 26 and Wilberth proceeded to easily convert the game.
Round 4
Oliver Andrade vs CM Wilberth Sebastian Lopez Fuentes
In what was the most exciting game of the tournament. Oliver managed to push Wilberth in a game where Wilberth missed a mate in 5. This did not change the outcome however as Oliver had an advantage but a blunder lead to a mate in 2.
Below is the final position where moving Kb6 would have given Oliver an advantage however he played Rb8 which lead to a quick loss.
Round 5
Round 5 featured a rematch of the Junior Chess Championship 2nd place tiebreak match between Gregory Mcgibney and Curtis Andrade. Both being tied at 2 points, winner of this game would earn first place in the junior section.
Gregory got his revenge against Curtis and secured 1st place in the Junior Section!
Open Section
1st - CM Wilberth Sebastian Lopes Fuentes
2nd - Oliver Andrade
3rd - Andre Nicolas Lopez Fuentes
Junior Section
1st - Gregory McGibney
2nd - Curtis Andrade
3rd - Joshua Davis
After the event, tournament director and National Champion Alfred Awe played a 2 game match against CM Wilberth Sebastian Lopes Fuentes. The match ended with a 2-0 to CM Wilberth Sebastian Lopes Fuentes.
In game 1 Alfred Awe was a few moves away from checkmating Wilberth but lost on time and in game 2 Wilberth outplayed Alfred in a Sicilian.
