Alonso Zapata

Alonso Zapata Ramirez (born August 28, 1958) is a Colombian chess grandmaster. He is an eight-time Colombian Chess Champion.

Chess career

Zapato has won the Colombian Chess Championship in 1980, 1981, 1995 (joint), 1996, 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2008.

Zapata played twelve times for Colombia in the Chess Olympiads (1978–1992, 1996–1998, 2002 and 2012).

He finished second, behind Artur Yusupov, in the 16th World Junior Chess Championship at Innsbruck 1977, tied for third and fourth at Havana 1983, and twice shared first at Cienfuegos in 1980 and Matanzas in 1994 (Capablanca Memorial).

Zapata was awarded the International Master (IM) title in 1980 and the GM title in 1984.

In 1988, Zapata beat future world champion Viswanathan Anand in only six moves.

In 2014, shortly after relocating to Atlanta, Zapata won the Southeast Open with 4.5/5.

In 2018, Zapata tied for first place in the inaugural National Senior Tournament of Champions.