Francisco Vallejo Pons is a Chess Grandmaster from Spain with Elo ratings exceeding 2600 from FIDE. He’s one of the best Spanish Chess players of all time.
Last Updated: July 22, 2022
Full Name: Francisco Vallejo Pons
Title: Grandmaster
Born: August 21, 1982
Place of birth: Spain
Ratings
World ranking: 33
Rapid: 2682
Blitz: 2644
Classical: 2702
Profiles
Biography
Vallejo Pons Francisco was born on August 21, 1982 in the Es Castell Menorca, Spain. Vallejo, with his parents, leaves in Menorca and has been a Spanish chess player throughout his chess career. His paternal name is Vallejo, and his second name, Pons, is the maternal name of the family. Since he developed an interest in his chess career at an early age, Vallejo has participated in both international and national chess tournaments. This has made him win different titles and improve n his ranking to become one of the best chess players in his country.
The Beginning
Vallejo Pons started featuring in chess games at his youthful age when he won his international master’s in 1996 when he was 14. This was followed by a grandmaster title which he won at 16. This made him appear among the top-ranked chess players in the junior category of chess games. It was also a good start for him that made him feature in many chess tournaments and leagues, both national and international chess games in his chess career.
He secured a chance to compete in the World Youth chess championships in the under 18 sections in 2000. Vallejo was the champion in the championships, making him gain popularity in chess games among other veteran players in the youth category. He also participated in the Ciudad de Leon Master tournament and emerged victorious. This was after he defeated his opponent Veselin Topalov by scoring 3.5 points against 2.5 points.
In 2013, Vallejo was named the winner of the European individual chess championships. Vallejo made a notable game in 2006 when he defeated Veselin Topalov, who was the world champion in the Super Gm chess tournament of Linares Morelia. Vallejo later decided to retire from participating in competitive chess after facing a painful loss at the hands of his opponent Sergey Karjakin. This was in 2012 when he participated in the Bilbao chess master tournament, where he lost the game in the final match.
He has continued to feature in many chess tournaments since he decided not to participate in competitive chess. He played in the 2014 tournament of the Bilbao masters and also the national leagues of his country. He also played in the Grand Prix cycle held in 2017 and 2018. The 2017 event occurred in Sharjah, and the 2018 edition was held in Moscow. In these two events, Vallejo appeared in the bottom half positions. This denied him a chance to participate in the candidate tournament in 2018 sponsored by Grand Prix. However, he remained active and participated in many tournaments and national leagues.
Achievements
Vallejo Pons Francisco is a self-motivated chess player with great achievement in the chess industry. He recorded five wins in the Spanish national chess championships to become a five-time chess champion in Spain. This record made him become the ranked player in his country.
The FIDE organization awarded Vallejo an international master’s title in 1996 at 14. This was a great achievement for him which motivated him to improve his chess games to qualify for a much bigger title. In 1999, Vallejo qualified for the Grandmaster title. He was awarded the title by the FIDE organization, making him one of Spain’s top-ranked chess players.
In January 2005, Vallejo surprisingly got a peak ranking of number 18 and is currently ranked number 33 from July 2022. In addition, he managed to pass the highest ELO rating mark of 2700 when he got a peak rating of 2724 in July 2011.
Vallejo was also named the Ciudad de Leon open masters tournament winner. He also recorded a tie in first place in the European individual chess championships in 2013. Vallejo was also victorious in the World Youth chess championships held in 2000, where he was named the tournament winner. Therefore, Vallejo is a highly profiled chess player in Spain; he also plays for his national team in different international chess competitions.
Did you enjoy reading about Francisco Vallejo Pons? If you did, you might also be interested in reading about players like Rey Enigma, Ernesto Inarkiev, and Tigran Gharamian.
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