Román Hernández Onna (23 November 1949 – 1 June 2021) was a Cuban Grandmaster (GM) (1978),

Cuban Chess Championship In the second part of the 19th century, Celso Golmayo Zúpide had been generally accepted as Cuban champion since his 1862 match defeat of Félix Sicre. In 1912–1937 Cuban Championship as Copa Dewar occurred. Maria Teresa Mora was the first wo ...

winner (1982).

Biography

From the 1970s to the 1990s, Román Hernández Onna was one of Cuba's leading chess players. He won

in 1982. One of his greatest successes in the international arena was in 1977 in a strong chess tournament in

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife), the most populous city in the auto ...

, where Román Hernández Onna shared the 4th place with

Mikhail Tal Mikhail Nekhemyevich Tal; rus, Михаил Нехемьевич Таль, ''Mikhail Nekhem'yevich Tal' '', ; sometimes transliterated ''Mihails Tals'' or ''Mihail Tal'' (9 November 1936 – 28 June 1992) was a Soviet-Latvian chess player ...

and

Walter Browne Walter Shawn Browne (10 January 1949 – 24 June 2015) was an Australian-born American chess and poker player. Awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 1970, he won the U.S. Chess Championship six times. Early years Browne was born to an Ame ...

behind

Anatoly Karpov Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov ( rus, links=no, Анато́лий Евге́ньевич Ка́рпов, p=ɐnɐˈtolʲɪj jɪvˈɡʲenʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈkarpəf; born May 23, 1951) is a Russian and former Soviet chess grandmaster, former World Che ...

Bent Larsen Jørgen Bent Larsen (4 March 1935 – 9 September 2010) was a Danish chess grandmaster and author. Known for his imaginative and unorthodox style of play, he was the second strongest non-Soviet player, behind Bobby Fischer, for much of the 19 ...

and

Jan Timman Jan Timman (born 14 December 1951) is a Dutch chess grandmaster who was one of the world's leading chess players from the late 1970s to the early 1990s. At the peak of his career, he was considered to be the best non-Soviet player and was known a ...

, and won parties against Larsen and Tal. In the same year, he also shared the 2nd place with

Oscar Panno Oscar Roberto Panno (born 17 March 1935 in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine chess Grandmaster. Panno was the first top world chess player born in South America. Panno won the 2nd World Junior Chess Championship in 1953, ahead of such future stron ...

and

Ulf Andersson Ulf Andersson (born 27 June 1951) is a leading Swedish chess player. FIDE awarded him the International Master title in 1970 and the Grandmaster title in 1972. Career At his peak, Andersson reached number four on the FIDE rating list. Tourname ...

Biel Chess Festival The Biel International Chess Festival is an annual chess tournament that takes place in Biel/Bienne , french: Biennois(e) , neighboring_municipalities= Brügg, Ipsach, Leubringen/Magglingen (''Evilard/Macolin''), Nidau, Orpund, Orvin, Piet ...

behind Anthony Miles. His other chess tournament successes include: 3rd place in

Kecskemét Kecskemét ( , sk, Kečkemét) is a city with county rights central part Hungary. It is the eighth-largest city in the country, and the county seat of Bács-Kiskun. Kecskemét lies halfway between the capital Budapest and the country's th ...

(1975, behind Károly Honfi and

Ratmir Kholmov Ratmir Dmitrievich Kholmov ( Russian: Ратмир Дмитриевич Холмов) (13 May 1925 in Shenkursk – 18 February 2006 in Moscow) was a Russian chess Grandmaster. He won many international tournaments in Eastern Europe during his ...

), shared 2nd-3rd place in Bogota (1978, behind

Efim Geller Efim Petrovich Geller (russian: Ефим Петрович Геллер, uk, Юхим Петрович Геллер; 8 March 1925 – 17 November 1998) was a Soviet chess player and world-class grandmaster at his peak. He won the Soviet Champi ...

), shared 3rd-4th place in Quito (1978), 2nd place in

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

(1978, behind Silvino García Martínez) and the first place in this city in 1983, as well as two third place in the 'Premier' tournaments in

Capablanca Memorial The Capablanca Memorial is a chess tournament that has been held annually in Cuba since 1962 in honor of José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera. At the time, it was the best paid tournament in the world. Since 1974 B and C tournaments have been held ...

(1999 and 2003). Román Hernández Onna played for Cuba in the

Chess Olympiad The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in 2020 an ...

s: * In 1970, at fourth board in the

19th Chess Olympiad The 19th Chess Olympiad (german: Die 19. Schacholympiade), comprising an open team tournament as well as the annual FIDE congress, took place between September 5–27, 1970, in Siegen, West Germany. The Soviet team with six Grandmasters, led by ...

Siegen Siegen () is a city in Germany, in the south Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein in the Arnsberg region. The university town (nearly 20,000 students in the 2018–2019 winter semest ...

(+7, =7, -2), * In 1972, at fourth board in the 20th Chess Olympiad in

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and List of cities in North Macedonia by population, largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Sk ...

(+6, =7, -2), * In 1978, at second board in the

23rd Chess Olympiad The 23rd Chess Olympiad ( es, La 23a Olimpíada de ajedrez), organized by FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. and a women's tournament, as well a ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

(+0, =9, -2), * In 1980, at first reserve board in the

24th Chess Olympiad The 24th Chess Olympiad ( mt, L-24 Olimpijadi taċ-Ċess), organized by FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. and a women's tournament, as well as ...

La Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an administrative unit and capital of Malta. Located on the main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, its population within administrative limits in 2014 wa ...

(+1, =1, -3), * In 1982, at fourth board in the

25th Chess Olympiad The 25th Chess Olympiad (german: Die 25. Schacholympiade), organized by FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. and a women's tournament, as well as ...

in Lucerne (+3, =2, -2), * In 1984, at first reserve board in the

26th Chess Olympiad The 26th Chess Olympiad ( el, Η 26η Σκακιστική Ολυμπιάδα, ''I 26i Skakistikí Olympiáda''), organized by FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and ...

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

(+3, =2, -1), * In 1988, at second reserve board in the 28th Chess Olympiad in

(+4, =3, -0), * In 1990, at first reserve board in the

29th Chess Olympiad The 29th Chess Olympiad ( sr, 29. Шаховска олимпијада, ''29. Šahovska olimpijada''), organized by FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female p ...

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pan ...

(+2, =3, -1). Román Hernández Onna played for Cuba in the

World Team Chess Championship The World Team Chess Championship is an international team chess event, eligible for the participation of 10 countries whose chess federations dominate their continent. It is played every two years. In chess, this tournament and the Chess Olympiads ...

: * In 1989, at reserve board in the 2nd World Team Chess Championship in Lucerne (+1, =4, -1). Román Hernández Onna played for Cuba in the

Pan American Team Chess Championship The Pan American Team Chess Championship is an international team chess tournament open to national federations affiliated to FIDE in the Americas. It is organized by the Confederation of Chess for America (CCA), and the winner qualifies to partic ...

s: * In 1971, at first reserve board in the 1st Panamerican Team Chess Championship in Tucuman (+1, =0, -1) and won team silver medal, * In 1991, at first reserve board in the 4th Panamerican Team Chess Championship in

Guarapuava Guarapuava (population: 182,644) is a municipality in the state of Paraná in Brazil. It is the largest municipality in that state by area. Guarapuava is located at 25°23'36" south and 51°27'19" west. The region is known as the centre of the s ...

(+3, =0, -1) and won team and individual gold medals. Román Hernández Onna played for Cuba in the World Student Team Chess Championships: * In 1963, at first reserve board in the 10th World Student Team Chess Championship in

Budva Budva ( cnr, Будва, or ) is a Montenegrin town on the Adriatic Sea. It has 19,218 inhabitants, and it is the centre of Budva Municipality. The coastal area around Budva, called the Budva riviera, is the center of Montenegrin tourism, kn ...

(+2, =3, -3), * In 1969, at third board in the 16th World Student Team Chess Championship in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

(+5, =2, -6), * In 1972, at second board in the 19th World Student Team Chess Championship in Graz (+3, =7, -0), * In 1976, at third board in the 21st World Student Team Chess Championship in Caracas (+5, =4, -1) and won team bronze medal. In 1975, Román Hernández Onna was awarded the FIDE International Master (IM) title, but in 1978 he was awarded FIDE Grandmaster (GM) title. He also was

FIDE Trainer 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 ...

(2014).

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hernández Onna, Román 1949 births 2021 deaths Sportspeople from Santiago de Cuba Cuban chess players Chess grandmasters Chess Olympiad competitors