Cristóbal Domínguez
Cristóbal Domínguez (April 5, 1931 – June 1979) was an Argentine chess master. He has been one of the most significant developers of the chess game study techniques since the early 1960s, when he began preparing young players with major national and international potential, in the sea-side resort city of Mar del Plata.
Career
In 1959, Domínguez arrived in Mar del Plata with the national chess master title. By November same year he represented Mar del Plata at the Argentinian Championship.
He was the Mar del Plata City Champion for three years in 1960, 1961, and 1963. Domínguez was also part of the Mar del Plata team in several national events, leading the team to the National Championship victory in 1961 and to win the "Playas de Necochea" Tournament (the beach tournament in Necochea) several times.
For his victory in 1964, the newspaper Crónica pointed out the skill of the Mar del Plata City chess players and the influence of Cristobal Dominguez:
Domínguez, Argentine Master winner of the Bahía Blanca Tournament in 1960 is the man responsible for this renaissance of Mar del Plata chess. There was a time, 15 years ago, in which Mar del Plata results were poor, but a new generation, led by Dominguez, with some young men showing their quality to the local and national public has born. Players like Serra, Serfaty, Vasta, Brond, De Urquía, shown that progress and study policy, the search for perfection, which Dominguez led and directed has its results.
In 1967, he toured through different countries including Israel, Italy and Spain, where he had a brilliant performance.
Retirement and legacy
In the late 60s, Domínguez retired from the Mar del Plata chess team. He went to Piriápolis, Uruguay with his wife, Felicidad Margarita Polo, and two children, Pedro and Manuel, while his daughter Isabel remained in Buenos Aires. He continued playing chess but only for exhibition.
People in Piriapolis and other Uruguayan cities where Dominguez had been playing still remember (30 years later) his quality and teachings; afflicted by cancer, he died at the age of 48 in June 1979.
The Chess Committee of the Credico-op Bank (Argentina's largest credit union) has organized a tournament with his name since April 1, 2000, and eight yearly editions have been played - each growing in the number of participants and relevance.