Cartagena, next stop of the Chess Tour of Spain | The truth

He defines himself as a unique and rare person, who has made his passion for music, chess and instruction his way of life. He has taught the secrets of this game to thousands of people, among whom is the Under-14 World Champion Pedro Ginés. He has been teaching classes with the checkered board in front of him for many years, although since 2020 he began doing them 'online'. He is now carrying out the Chess Tour of Spain project to unite the geography and history of the most emblematic corners of each province with this strategy game, something that he describes as “a wonderful madness.” After visiting 38 cities, his project will arrive in the Region of Murcia on Saturday, April 13.

Destination Cartagena and the Mar Menor

Miguel Ángel is clear that he will make Cartagena his setting for the live broadcast on Saturday: «I have great expectations of getting to know the Mar Menor and Cartagena. “I am a big fan of Pérez-Reverte.” Although his connection will focus on the port city, he will surely also visit La Manga: “As I am going to talk about strategy and tactics, I can link it with the Mar Menor and the Mediterranean Sea as two parts of something unique,” he explains. .

Within what will be province number 39 on your route, you will visit the port of Cartagena, the Roman Theater and the sculpture of El Zulo, among other enclaves. However, he emphasizes that he would also love to go through the city of Murcia hand in hand with his car, which has been accompanying him throughout the Spanish territory: “It's an Opel Corsa and it's holding up like a champ,” he says fondly. Although he does not think he will have time to do too much sightseeing, since on Sunday, April 14, he will leave for Alicante and his itinerary through the national territory should end the second or third week of June in Zaragoza, the same point from where he started.

Although he is looking forward to getting to know the Region, he explains that he does not have Murcian chess students. However, he highlights: “Here you have a very good Grandmaster (a title given to chess players who reach a certain level), José Carlos Ibarra, who is a 'crack'.”

From Aragon to all of Spain

This idea of ​​a chess tour arose when Miguel Ángel decided to do the Tour of Aragón and was delighted with the experience. From that moment on, he set out to travel all over Spain with his car, taking with him the necessary technology to perform his live shows on Twitch, a travel diary that he will distribute to his students, and a lot of enthusiasm. Thanks to his “faithful students” and the chess club Agrupación Artística Aragonesa, which is the oldest active chess club in Spain, he finances this project. However, he acknowledges that he has needed to “draw on savings.” «This project is very expensive. “More than I thought,” he laments.

At the age of four he started moving chips thanks to his father, who taught him. From then on, his life has always been linked to the board, although in a pedagogical and non-competitive way: “During trips, in order to survive, I give guitar and chess classes online.”

And although he still has to go through the Region of Murcia and more than ten other provinces in his desire to unite chess and history, he confesses that “returning to Spain has been a dream. Despite everything, it has been worth it. Once the project is finished, he has the following in mind: “Rest and make a book with the stories I write in each autonomy.” However, nothing seems to stop his mind, which does not stop looking for new future challenges: “Maybe the Tour of Europe, although those are big words.”