Marcel Sisniega

     

     Although virtually unknown among chess players, Sisniega was one of the top two or three strongest players ever from Mexico. 
     Marcel Sisniega Campbell (July 28, 1959 – January 19, 2013) was a Mexican GM and film director. With an American mother and Mexican father he grew up in Cuernavaca near Mexico City. 
     After being the awarded the IM title in 1978 be developed into very strong player that was clearly of GM strength long before he was finally awarded the GM title in 1992. After that he eventually became disappointed with the chess world and devoted most time to being a film director. He died unexpectedly of a heart attack.
      Never afraid to play sharp gambit, Sisniega's games were lively and enterprising and often featured attacks against his opponent's King. His brother, Ivar, is a Summer Olympian pentathlete, politician and businessman. Sisniega had two boys and two girls. Daughter Vera is a prominent political activist who fights against corruption and other problems in Mexico. Sofia is a Mexican-American actress, vegan and animal rights activist. 
     The following game was played in Reggio Emilia, Italy in 1981. In Italian, the tournaments were known as Torneo di Capodanno (New Year's tournament), as it used to start just after Christmas and end on the day of Epiphany, or January 6th. It was established as an annual event in 1958 by GM Enrico Paoli. In 1982/83 the tournament attracted a new sponsor and by the 1990s the tournament had gained significant international reputation. The strongest ever tounament was the 1991/1992 event. It was won by the 22-year-old Viswanathan Anand ahead of Garry Kasparov, Anatoly Karpov and Vassily Ivanchuk.
     Usually a 10 to 16 player round robin, it became Italy's oldest and most renowned tournament usually played as a 10 to 16 player round-robin tournament. The last tournament was held in 2011/2012. Unfortunately this great tournament then had to be canceled due to economic reasons. 

Final Standings, 1981 
1) Arne Duer, 10.5 
2) Rafael Vaganian 9.5 
3) Avigdor Bykhovsky 9.0 
4-5) Carlos Cuartas and Edward Formanek 8.0 
6-7) Marcell Sisniegaand Janos Rigo 7.5 
8) Pierluigi Passerotti 7.0 
9) Roberto Messa 6.5 
10) Franco Trabattoni 5.5 
11) Luigi Santolini 5.0 
12) Mauro Reggiani 3.5 
13) Carlo Rossi 3.0 
14) Giorgio Coppini 0.5