The Helios swimming center continues to celebrate its centenary with one of its most prominent events: the championship of Spain of chess for autonomic children and cadet selections, which will be held from Thursday 19 to June 22, 2025. 16 autonomous communities and almost 200 players participate, among which only two boys and two girls can act on the board, in order to promote female participation.
To the presentation, which took place this noon at the facilities of C.N. Helios, José María Esteban, president of C.N. Helios; Rubén Cajo, president of the Aragonese Chess Federation and Sergio Garza, International Chess Master.
The president of the Zaragozano Club has stressed that it is “one of the most outstanding events of the centenary.” An event that acquires more importance, since there are 24 years that have passed since the last time Saragossa He welcomed this championship.
In this sense, Sergio Garza has guaranteed that the level of this tournament will be “extraordinary” and that of the Aragonese players is “superior” to what the ranking reflects. This, because the classification is made through a system similar to that of ATP, where based on the results they ascend or descend from position. Thus, the international teacher indicates that they have the challenge of “enhancing base chess”, in addition to the female.
A championship with representation of all Spain … and from Ukraine
The tournament, organized by the Aragonese Chess Federation, will bring together 33 teams from practically all autonomous communities (with the exception of Balearic Islands and Ceuta), divided into 17 cadet and 16 children’s selections. In this way, there are twelve Aragonese representatives who will participate: the Lorente brothers, the most prominent. Meanwhile, there are also Ukrainian players, where the last name Prochaieva, the famous chess quadly. Although only two of them participate in this edition.
Each team consists of two boys and two girls, which adds a total of 198 players and 66 delegates, promoting a female participation that is at just 10% and in regard to Aragon does not reach 9%. For this reason, numerical equality occurs in the gender of the participants.
In addition, in this tournament the assistance of the public and the delegates is prohibited so as not to deconcentrate the protagonists, at the same time that mobile phones are not allowed in space. Of course, this will be retransmitted through the Sicss platform, which collaborates with the Spanish Chess Federation.
Swiss system and six rounds of chess emotion
The president of the Aragonese Federation defines this event as a “large championship”, since he is the only one in Spain in these categories. The competition will be developed through the Swiss system at six rounds. This format guarantees balanced and “dynamic” confrontations, and a high -level competitive experience that will test the strategy and concentration of the participants, Cajo explained.
The celebration of this championship in Aragon has a symbolic value, since it was not held in the community since 2001. This return, more than two decades later, highlights the commitment to base chess and recognizes the organizational capacity of local sports entities.
