Juan Manuel Bellón López (born 8 May 1950) is a Spanish

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

player who holds the

FIDE title 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 ...

of Grandmaster (1978). He is a five-time Spanish Chess Champion (1969, 1971, 1974, 1977, 1982),

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 FIDE Onli ...

individual silver medal winner (

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

), and

European Team Chess Championship The European Team Championship (often abbreviated in texts and games databases as ''ETC'') is an international team chess event, eligible for the participation of European nations whose chess federations are located in zones 1.1 to 1.9. This more ...

(1989) individual bronze medal winner.

Biography

From the late 1960s to the mid-1990s, Bellón López was one of the top Spanish chess players. He won the

Spanish Chess Championship The Spanish Chess Championship is contested annually under the auspices of the Federación Española de Ajedrez (FEDA), the governing body of chess in Spain, to determine the nation's chess champion. The first official championship was in 1928. Wi ...

five times in the years 1969, 1971, 1974, 1977 and 1982. Juan Manuel Bellón López has participated in international chess tournaments many times, achieving successes including first place or shared first place in: Torremolinos (1978),

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

'' Rilton Cup'' (1986/87),

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

(1988),

Terrassa Terrassa () is a city in central-eastern Catalonia and in the province of Barcelona (Spain). It is one of the two capitals of Vallès Occidental county, being the larger in both area and population. The name ''Terrassa'' derives from Latin ''Te ...

(1990), Castell-Platja d'Aro (1994), Santa Clara (1999),

Varadero Varadero (), also referred to as ''Playa Azul'' (Blue Beach), is a resort town in the province of Matanzas, Cuba, and one of the largest resort areas in the Caribbean. Varadero Beach is rated one of the world's best beaches in TripAdvisor's Travel ...

(2000). Bellón López played for Spain in the

s: * In 1970, at second reserve board in the

19th Chess Olympiad The 19th Chess Olympiad (), comprising an open team tournament as well as the annual Fédération Internationale des Échecs, FIDE congress, took place between September 5–27, 1970, in Siegen, West Germany. The Soviet team with six Grandmaster ...

Siegen Siegen () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, 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), Arnsberg region. The university town (n ...

(+4, =1, -4), * In 1972, at first reserve board in the

20th Chess Olympiad The 20th Chess Olympiad (, ''20. Šahovska olimpijada''), organized by FIDE and comprising an open team tournament, as well as several other events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between September 18 and October 13, 1972, in S ...

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

(+7, =3, -3), * In 1974, at fourth board in the

21st Chess Olympiad The 21st Chess Olympiad (), 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. team tournament, as well as several other events designed to promote ...

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million 22nd Chess Olympiad The 22nd Chess Olympiad (, ''Olimpiada ha-shachmat ha-22''), organized by Fédération Internationale des Échecs, FIDE, took place between October 26 and November 10, 1976, in Haifa, Israel. For the first time, the event comprised both an openAl ...

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

(+6, =1, -4), * In 1978, at fourth board in the

23rd Chess Olympiad The 23rd Chess Olympiad (), 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 several other events designed t ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

(+8, =4, -1) and won individual silver medal, * In 1980, at second board in the

24th Chess Olympiad The 24th Chess Olympiad (), organized by FIDE and comprising an open and a women's tournament, as well as several other events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between November 20 and December 6, 1980, at the Mediterranean Confer ...

in La Valletta (+6, =3, -4), * In 1982, at second board in the

25th Chess Olympiad The 25th Chess Olympiad (), organized by Fédération Internationale des Échecs, 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, a ...

Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

(+3, =3, -4), * In 1984, at second board in the

26th Chess Olympiad The 26th Chess Olympiad (, ''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 female players. and a women's tournament, as well a ...

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

(+1, =4, -5), * In 1986, at third board in the

27th Chess Olympiad The 27th Chess Olympiad (, ''uwlimbiad al-shatranj al-27''), organized by Fédération Internationale des Échecs, FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female pla ...

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

(+2, =2, -2), * In 1988, at fourth board in the

28th Chess Olympiad The 28th Chess Olympiad (, ''I 28i 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 female players. and a women's tournament, as well ...

(+2, =1, -4), * In 1992, at third board in the

30th Chess Olympiad The 30th Chess Olympiad, 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 several other events designed to ...

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

(+4, =3, -4). Bellón López played for Spain in the

s: * In 1970, at fifth board in the 4th European Team Chess Championship in

Kapfenberg Kapfenberg () is a city in the Bruck-Mürzzuschlag district of the Austrian state of Styria. It lies in the valley of the Mürz river in central Austria. With an estimated population of 22,080 individuals in 2024, it is the third largest city in S ...

(+0, =1, -5), * In 1989, at second board in the 9th European Team Chess Championship in

(+4, =3, -1) and won individual bronze medal. Also Bellón López three times participated in Clare Benedict Chess Cup (1970, 1974–1977) and in team competition won gold (1970) medal. In 1974, he was awarded the FIDE

International 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 ...

(IM) title and received the FIDE Grandmaster (GM) title four years later. Bellón López is also a FIDE Developmental Instructor (2014). He is also known for inventing the Bellon Gambit in 1969 and it is still used by many players. One of his chess heroes was

Mikhail Tal Mikhail Tal (9 November 1936 – 28 June 1992) was a Soviet and Latvian chess player and the eighth World Chess Champion. He is considered a creative genius and is widely regarded as Comparison of top chess players throughout history, one ...

, former world champion for his creative and aggressive style of play. Juan finally beat him in a match in 1984 in a very memorable game.

Personal life

He is married to Swedish chess FIDE Grandmaster Pia Cramling, and their daughter Anna Cramling Bellón (born 2002) also plays chess, holding a Women FIDE Master (WFM) title, and has a chess-focused YouTube channel and Twitch stream.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bellón López, Juan Manuel 1950 births Chess Grandmasters Chess Olympiad competitors Living people Spanish chess players Spanish emigrants to Sweden Sportspeople from Valencia Swedish chess players