The Capablanca Memorial — held annually in Havana since 1962 in honour of José Raúl Capablanca, the third world chess champion — is one of the longest-continuous tournaments in chess. The 59th edition was held from May 12 to 23, 2026, at the Hotel Nacional de Cuba in Havana.
The format varies across editions; for 2026 the main “Elite” group was a 10-player round-robin at classical time control, with parallel “Premier” and “Open” groups running on the same dates. The tournament has been won historically by Soviet/Russian grandmasters (Smyslov, Polugaevsky, Geller, Anatoly Karpov-era visitors), Cuban grandmasters (Leinier Domínguez Pérez, Lázaro Bruzón), and a rotating cast of strong European and Latin American visitors.
The 2025 edition was won by Lázaro Bruzón Batista, Cuba’s top player. The 2026 edition’s winner is in the tournament’s results archive; see the external links for current standings and the FIDE calendar for series information.
The Capablanca Memorial’s role in Cuban sport is significant. Capablanca remains a national icon — the airport in Havana bears his name, his face appears on Cuban currency, and the tournament is annually covered by Cuban state media. The chess infrastructure that produced champions Bruzón, Domínguez, and a generation of Latin American grandmasters has its institutional core in the Capablanca Memorial circuit.
For the official FIDE listing, Cuban Chess Federation news, and TWIC coverage of the 2026 edition, see the right column.