This refers to Carlos Andrés Tobar Beltrán, who earned the title of FIDE Master (FM) after meeting the two prerequisite requirements: a score of 6 out of 9 in the ITT Subzonal Tournament in 2021, and an ELO FIDE rating of 2100 in the ITT Open Pereira 2024.

“This is an achievement that truly fills me with pride, as I have been competing in this sport for 15 years, and it is a title that every high-level competitor aspires to reach someday. I am grateful to everyone who has supported me to get here, including my family, friends, and the University of Cauca for their support over the past years. This accomplishment is a motivation to continue pursuing this sport.”

Engineering student Carlos Andrés Tobar Beltrán, who recently earned the title of FIDE Master (FM) from the International Chess Federation, reflects on his achievement. The FM title is awarded to top-performing players and is the third most prestigious title, following International Master (IM) and Grandmaster (GM).

This title is granted after meeting two requirements: achieving a score of 6 out of 9 in the ITT Subzonal Tournament, which he accomplished in 2021, and reaching an ELO FIDE rating of 2100—an overall rating used by FIDE to measure a player's level, obtained by competing in federated tournaments. He achieved this rating at the ITT Open Pereira tournament held last week.

With this achievement, Tobar Beltrán becomes the first FIDE Master from Popayán and the second from the Cauca department. In 2021, he earned the first norm (the most significant) and received a provisional FIDE Master diploma. To make it official, he needed to complete the second norm. Cauca now has two FIDE Masters (Carlos Andrés Tobar Beltrán from Popayán and Edwin Navia from Santander de Quilichao) and one FIDE Woman Master (Lina Sofía Cardona Martínez from Popayán, though she represents the Caldas Chess League).

It is worth noting that in May, Carlos Andrés represented Unicauca and won the Gold Medal in Classical Chess at the Regional Occidente 2024 University Games, qualifying for the National University Games Final scheduled for September.

Provided photo

Among his accomplishments are:

• Cauca Selection in youth categories, earning multiple national medals.
• Participation in various international tournaments: Central American and Caribbean (Puerto Rico), Pan American (Brazil, Venezuela, Peru, and Colombia), and World (Brazil).
• Central American and Caribbean Champion in the Under-8 category, Puerto Rico, 2012.
• Third place in the Pan American Under-7 category, Venezuela, 2011.
• Cauca Selection for the 2019 National Sports Games, winning a Bronze Medal.

"Night of the Best" by the Colombian Association of Sports Journalists (ACORD) Cauca, 2018.

• Nominated for Rising Sports Star at the "Night of the Best" by the Colombian Association of Sports Journalists (ACORD) Cauca.

Written by:

Carlos Pérez