Gilberto Hernández Guerrero (born February 4, 1970 in Ébano, San Luis Potosí) is a

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

Grandmaster from

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. On the July 2008 FIDE rating list he has an Elo rating of 2550, making him the second highest ranked player on the Mexican ELO-list. He was the highest ranked Mexican player in most of the 1990s and 2000s. At age 5, Hernández learned the basics of chess. At age 8, he played his first tournament. As an 11-year-old he became champion of San Luis Potosí, his state, and also took the bronze medal in the World Under 12 Championship held in

Xalapa Xalapa or Jalapa (, ), officially Xalapa-Enríquez (), is the capital city of the Mexican state of Veracruz and the name of the surrounding municipality. In the 2005 census the city reported a population of 387,879 and the municipality of which ...

, Veracruz. Despite not having a trainer, he became National Master at 14 and

FIDE Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

at 16 after winning the gold medal at the Pan-American Under-16 Championship in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

. As a 17-year-old he participated in a Zonal tournament held in

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, where he got his first International Master norm. After that success he received invitations to play in five more tournaments, so he stayed on the island for three months, which helped him to develop further. He also returned to Cuba at the age of 19 to attempt his last IM norm. He got it with a gap of 1.5 points. By that time, he already had a rating of 2520. In 1990, Hernández played in the Open tournament in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

, France. He scored 8 out of 9 points beating well-known grandmasters like former World Junior Champion Vladimir Akopian and

Artashes Minasian Artashes Minasian (sometimes transliterated as Minasyan; hy, Արտաշես Մինասյան; born 21 January 1967) is an Armenian chess grandmaster. He won the USSR Chess Championship in 1991 and is a six-time Armenian Chess Champion. Chess ...

to become champion of the tournament. He continued to maintain a rating above 2500, and he received the Grandmaster title in 1995. Gilberto Hernández has played 7 Olympiads and with more than 10 years living out of his country, he has won more than 40 international tournaments. His most important results against elite chess players include his triumphs over

Alexei Shirov Alexei Shirov (, lv, Aleksejs Širovs; born 4 July 1972) is a Latvian and Spanish chess player. Shirov was ranked number two in the world in 1994. He won a match against Vladimir Kramnik in 1998 to qualify to play as challenger for the classic ...

, Vladimir Akopian,

Boris Gulko Boris Franzevich Gulko ( rus, Борис Францевич Гулько, p=bɐˈrʲis ɡʊlʲˈko; born February 9, 1947) is a Soviet-American Grandmaster in chess. Gulko is noted to be the only person to win both the Soviet Chess Championship a ...

Tony Miles Anthony John Miles (23 April 1955 – 12 November 2001) was an English chess player and the first Englishman to earn the Grandmaster title. Early and personal life Miles was an only child, born 23 April 1955 in Edgbaston, a suburb of Birming ...

and Alexander Rustemov and his draws with Alexander Khalifman,

Viktor Korchnoi Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi ( rus, Ви́ктор Льво́вич Корчно́й, p=vʲiktər lʲvovʲɪtɕ kɐrtɕˈnoj; 23 March 1931 – 6 June 2016) was a Soviet (before 1976) and Swiss (after 1980) chess grandmaster (GM) and chess writer. H ...

Judit Polgár Judit Polgár (born 23 July 1976) is a Hungarian chess grandmaster, generally considered the strongest female chess player of all time. In 1991, Polgár achieved the title of Grandmaster at the age of 15 years and 4 months, at the time the yo ...

Boris Gelfand Boris Gelfand ( he, בוריס אברמוביץ' גלפנד; be, Барыс Абрамавіч Гельфанд, Barys Abramavich Hel'fand; russian: Борис Абрамович Гельфанд, Boris Abramovich Gel'fand; born 24 June 1968) ...

Joël Lautier Joël Lautier () is a French chess grandmaster and one of the world's leading chess players in the 1990s and early 2000s. In 1986, He won U-14 World Youth Chess Championship in Puerto Rico, Argentina. In 1988, he won the World Junior Chess Champ ...

Jeroen Piket Jeroen Piket (born 27 January 1969) is a Dutch chess grandmaster. He is a four-time Dutch Chess Champion. Chess career Born in 1969, Piket earned his international master title in 1986 and his grandmaster title in 1989. He won the Dutch Chess ...

, among others. He is married to Claudia Amura, a Woman Grandmaster from Argentina.

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References

1970 births Living people Chess grandmasters Mexican chess players Sportspeople from San Luis Potosí Chess Olympiad competitors {{Mexico-chess-bio-stub