Francisco Vallejo Pons is one of the best international grandmasters in the FIDE top standings. He is currently among the best 20 best players in the world, and he is practically retired from elite chess.
Francisco Vallejo Pons is an excellent grandmaster, who we can see usually playing and teaching in Chess24. Today, we will learn a thing or two about Francisco Vallejo Pons and his interesting playstyle.
His story is incredible, and it is the perfect example of well shaped talent for sure. Even though his golden years were a little while ago, he is still playing in top-class level competitions.
And he is one of the most outstanding members of the Myinvestor Stadium Casablanca chess team. He could easily measure his skill with the ones of Magnus Carlsen and Garry Kasparov.
His story is pretty similar, and we will review that in this post too. Here is everything you want to know about Francisco Vallejo Pons and his chess career.
How has Francisco Vallejo Pons progressed in chess?
Francisco Vallejo Pons, also called “Paco Vallejo” was born in 1982 in Spain. All his family know how to play chess, and they would spend a lot of time playing the game. That’s why when he was 5 years old, he already knew how to play because he had seen his family.
One friend of the family came over and realized the incredible skill Francisco had for chess. So, his family decided to inscribe him to a chess school, where he had his first teachers.
He was a regular kid assisting in chess classes until 1991, when he became the runner-up in the U10 category of the world chess championship. Then, in 1993, being 11 years old, his life changed and went to live away from his family in Galicia, Spain.
Francisco’s chess life continues and finds other great masters in Galicia to teach his chess. Then, in 1996 he became a chess international master, as he became the runner-up in the national chess championships.
A few years later, he became a grandmaster, and with great achievements, like being among the top players. And being the trainer of Veselin Topalov in his match for the world championships in one opportunity for example.
What’s Francisco Vallejo Pons' playstyle?
Francisco Vallejo Pons has excelled for his attacking style and the way he involves his opponent. If he is something that he is good at is performing combinations, things that he loves to the bones.
He also has a saying in chess, which could be useful for some beginner and even intermediate chess players: Once you have a superior position that can’t be improved anymore, look for a combination.
That means that he always looks for a way to use the tactic in his games, and with good results. Here we will see some of his best games with tactical combinations that are more than incredible.
Francisco Vallejo Pons’s best games
The first game is one between GM Peter Svidler and GM Francisco Vallejo Pons, in a rapid tournament.
This one is from the Pamplona International tournament, against GM Ian Nepomniachtchi!
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