Exactly three years, five months and a half after Havana’s Dylan Isidro Berdayes became a Grandmaster, Cuba officially has another Grandmaster. The 48th titled player is Jorge Roberto Elías, who thus fulfils a childhood dream, as he told Juventud Rebelde, for which he had to sacrifice countless hours and study with dedication a game that never ceases to be interesting.

The excellent news received by the Camagüey native emerged from the first 2026 council of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), held on 2 April and announced yesterday, coinciding exactly with the 63rd birthday of legend Garry Kasparov, according to specialist Osmani Pedraza on his social media.

Elías, absolute national champion in 2025 and one of the members of the Cuban men’s team that will be at the 2026 World Olympiad in Samarkand (Uzbekistan), achieved his dream at age 26 and, according to Pedraza, is the third player from Camagüey to reach the highest title, after Lexy Ortega and his good friend Carlos Daniel Albornoz.

At the FIDE council, it also emerged that Santiago’s José Abelino Álvarez and Villa Clara’s Jorge de Jesús Pérez celebrated their International Master titles, while Havana’s Silvio García and Sancti Spíritus’s Marlon Javier La Villa became International Arbiter and FIDE Arbiter, respectively.

Finally, at the meeting, according to Osmani Pedraza, it was also confirmed that Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, will host the 2028 edition of the World Olympiad.