At the age of four, Javier Habans (Pamplona, 2008) showed up one day at the Overena sports club in his hometown with his sister. She, two years older, had taught him how to play chess and they both wanted to deepen their hobby. Javier intended to follow in the footsteps of who two years later would be Spanish champion. From the first moment, the coach who led that club, Jesús de la Villa, an experienced player and coach, saw “spectacular potential” in him. Thus began this love story for chess, which this past Saturday experienced the most special moment since then. Habans was proclaimed under-16 world champion in Florianópolis (Brazil), something that no Spaniard had achieved before. The closest are the titles of Francisco Vallejo (under-18, in 2000) and Pedro Ginés (under-14, in 2018).
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