Luis Ernesto Quesada Perez

Overview

Luis Ernesto Quesada Pérez (born January 4, 1999) is a Cuban-born Mexican chess grandmaster (GM). Awarded the Grandmaster title by FIDE in 2018, Quesada Pérez achieved a career-high classical rating of 2581 in October 2024. Primarily active as a tournament competitor and national team player, he was crowned national champion of Cuba in 2024 and represented the Cuban federation in two Chess Olympiads before officially transferring his competitive representation to Mexico (MEX) in October 2025.

Biography & Major Career Milestones

Born in Ciego de Ávila, Cuba, Quesada Pérez established himself as a prominent talent in Cuban chess during his youth. He secured his Grandmaster title in 2018, with his application formally ratified at the 89th FIDE Congress in Batumi, Georgia.

In January 2020, Quesada Pérez had a strong showing at the Prague Open International Tournament, opening the event with six consecutive victories. Over the following years, he consistently contended at the top of the Cuban national circuit. At the 2023 Cuban Chess Championship, he finished fourth after a close tiebreak match for second place against Carlos Daniel Albornoz Cabrera and Lelys Stanley Martínez Duany.

In May 2023, he finished third in the Elite Group of the 56th Capablanca Memorial in Havana, finishing behind tournament winner Jonas Buhl Bjerre and runner-up Alexandr Fier. Later that year, in August, he competed in the FIDE World Cup 2023 in Baku, Azerbaijan, where he was eliminated in the first round by Turkish Grandmaster Emre Can.

In February 2024, Quesada Pérez achieved his signature individual tournament success by winning the 60th Cuban Chess Championship in Holguín. After finishing tied for first place alongside GMs Omar Almeida Quintana and Carlos Daniel Albornoz Cabrera on a score of 7/10, he won the subsequent three-player rapid tiebreak tournament to claim the national title.

His strong form continued through the summer of 2024. In June, he finished sixth at the XVII American Continental Chess Championship in Medellín, Colombia, scoring 8.5/11. In August 2024, he finished among the leaders of the Sparkassen Chess Trophy A-Open in Dortmund, Germany, scoring 6.5/9. In September 2024, he concluded the Iberoamerican Chess Championship in Linares, Spain, in sixth place, having led the field during the middle rounds of the tournament.

Following these performances, he reached his peak FIDE rating of 2581 in October 2024. In October 2025, Quesada Pérez executed a federation transfer, switching from Cuba to Mexico. In December 2025, he won the blitz portion of the 35th Carlos Torre Memorial in Mérida, Mexico, finishing in first place with a score of 8.5/9.

Elite Team & Event Performance

• 44th Chess Olympiad (2022): Represented Cuba on Board 3 in Chennai, India. He scored 5.5/9 with a performance rating of 2578, which included a critical victory over Azerbaijani GM Rauf Mamedov (2656) to help secure a 2.5–1.5 team upset for Cuba.
• XXIV Central American and Caribbean Games (2023): Represented Cuba on Board 2 in San Salvador, El Salvador. He secured the individual silver medal in the rapid portion of the event, finishing with 12.5/15.
• 45th Chess Olympiad (2024): Represented Cuba on Board 2 in Budapest, Hungary. He scored 5.5/9 with a performance rating of 2562, which included a win over Japanese IM Ryosuke Nanjo and a draw against Serbian GM Alexey Sarana (2713).

Playing Style, Material Tendencies & Endgame Profiling

Quesada Pérez plays with a solid, classical positional style typical of modern computer-era calculators. He relies on concrete calculation and a pragmatic approach to structure, preferring to accumulate small strategic advantages rather than entering highly volatile, double-edged tactical complications. He exhibits strong defensive resourcefulness in slightly inferior positions, which translates to low loss rates in open Swiss tournaments.

He frequently seeks out queenless middlegames and favorable minor-piece imbalances, showing a high level of technical precision in grinding down opponents in rook-and-pawn endings. His positional understanding is highlighted by his handling of space advantages and structural breaks in queen's pawn pawn-structures.

Opening Repertoire & Theoretical Move Orders

1. As White

Quesada Pérez primarily opens with queen's pawn setups and flank openings, relying heavily on positional mainlines and reliable anti-systems.

• Queen's Gambit Declined (Ragozin Variation): His most frequent selection when opening with 1.d4, aiming for central control and early piece activity.
• Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack: He utilizes 1.b3 to sidestep deep theoretical theoretical mainlines while steering the game toward a maneuver-based positional battle.

2. As Black

Against 1.e4, Quesada Pérez employs a dual approach, balancing the razor-sharp counterplay of the Sicilian Najdorf with the solidity of the Caro-Kann Defense. Against 1.d4, he typically aims for solid setups.

• Sicilian Defense (Najdorf Variation): His primary weapon for asymmetric counter-attacking play against 1.e4.
• Caro-Kann Defense: Used as a structurally robust alternative when solidity is preferred.
• Queen's Gambit Declined: His standard defense against 1.d4, aiming for classic, reliable development.

Links

• FIDE: https://ratings.fide.com/profile/3520773
• Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Ernesto_Quesada_P%C3%A9rez