Salvador Díaz

Salvador Díaz developed into one of Venezuela's leading chess players between 1953 and 1960. Beginning in 1961, he reduced his chess activities and worked initially as a mathematics teacher, and from 1965 on as a programmer at IBM.

At the Venezuelan Chess Championship in 1958, Díaz came in shared first place but lost the playoff 2.5 : 3.5 against Antonio Medina García. In 1960, he won the title in Maracaibo with 10.5 points from 11 games and defended it in 1961 in a match against Celso Sánchez Pouso. Díaz was able to win the national championship again in 1978.

Díaz took part in several World Chess Championship Zonal Tournaments:

• in 1957 in Caracas he reached 8th place with 6 points from 13 games,[1]
• in 1967 in Caracas he finished 7th with 4.5 points from 10 games,[2]
• in 1972 in Bogotá he came 12th with 6 points from 15 games.[3]

Díaz played for Venezuela in the Chess Olympiads:[4]

• in 1966, at the second board in the 17th Chess Olympiad in Havana (+9, =5, -6),
• in 1968, at the first reserve board in the 18th Chess Olympiad in Lugano (+9, =3, -3),
• in 1978, at the third board in the 23rd Chess Olympiad in Buenos Aires (+3, =2, -5).

In 2021, at the age of 88, Díaz was awarded the title of FIDE Master based on his performance in tournaments in the 1960s.[5]

• Salvador Diaz rating card at FIDE
• Salvador Diaz player profile and games at Chessgames.com
• Salvador Diaz chess games at 365chess.com