Gildardo García

{{Short description|Colombia chess Grandmaster (1954–2021)}}

{{infobox chess player

|country=Colombia

|image=Gildardo Garcia.jpg

|caption=

|birth_date= {{birth-date|9 March 1954}}

|death_date= {{death date and age|df=y|2021|01|15|1954|03|09}}

|death_place = Medellín, Colombia

|title = Grandmaster (2008)

|peakrating = 2540 (July 1994)

|FideID =4400020

}}

Gildardo García (9 March 1954 – 15 January 2021) was a Colombian chess grandmaster.

Biography

García became Colombia's second Grandmaster in 1992.{{Cite web|url=http://ratings.fide.com/card.phtml?event=4400020|title=Garcia, Gildardo FIDE Chess Profile - Players Arbiters Trainers|website=ratings.fide.com|access-date=2020-03-25}} His highest rating was 2540 (in July 1994) and he was ranked 14th in Colombia at the time of his death.{{Cite web|url=https://chess-db.com/public/pinfo.jsp?id=4400020|title=Gildardo Garcia chess games and profile - Chess-DB.com|website=chess-db.com|access-date=2020-03-25|archive-date=2016-08-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826200225/https://chess-db.com/public/pinfo.jsp?id=4400020|url-status=dead}}

He won the Colombian national championship 10 times, in 1977, 1978, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1995, 2003, and 2006.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ajedrezdeataque.com/05%20Palmares/Campeonatos/Nacionales/America/Colombia.htm|title=Campeonato de Colombia de ajedrez|website=www.ajedrezdeataque.com|access-date=2020-03-25}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.elabedul.net/Ajedrez/Documentos/campeones_colombianos.php|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206092058/http://www.elabedul.net/Ajedrez/Documentos/campeones_colombianos.php|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-02-06|title=Campeones colombianos|date=2012-02-06|access-date=2020-03-25}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.chessgames.com/player/gildardo_garcia.html|title=The chess games of Gildardo Garcia|website=www.chessgames.com|access-date=2020-04-19}} In 1974, he won the inaugural Pan American Junior Chess Championship.{{Cite web|url=http://www.brasilbase.pro.br/p20b1974.htm|title=San Juan 1974 - 1° Campeonato Panamericano Juvenil|website=www.brasilbase.pro.br|access-date=2020-04-19}} In 2006, he played in the chess olympiads for Colombia.{{Cite web|url=https://old.chesstempo.com/gamedb/player/69574|title=Gildardo Garcia - Chess Games|website=old.chesstempo.com|access-date=2020-04-19}}

He died from COVID-19 in Medellín on 15 January 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Colombia.{{cite tweet|number=1350153008005451777|user=FIDE_chess|title=We have just received the sad news about the passing of Gildardo García. He was the second Colombian to achieve the… |date=15 January 2021}}{{Cite web |last=Tiempo |first=Casa Editorial El |date=2021-01-15 |title=Luto en el ajedrez colombiano: muere el Gran Maestro Gildardo García |url=https://www.eltiempo.com/deportes/otros-deportes/muere-el-gran-maestro-de-ajedrez-gildardo-garcia-por-covid-19-560769 |access-date=2021-01-15 |website=El Tiempo |language=spanish}}

References