Juan Manuel Bellón López

From the late 1960s to the mid-1990s, Bellón López was one of the top Spanish chess players. In 1969,^[2] 1971, 1974, 1977 and 1982 he won Spanish Chess Championship five times. Juan Manuel Bellón López has participated in international chess tournaments many times, achieving successes including first place or shared first place in: Torremolinos (1978),^[3] Stockholm Rilton Cup (1986/87), Barcelona (1988), Terrassa (1990), Castell-Platja d'Aro (1994), Santa Clara (1999), Varadero (2000).

Bellón López played for Spain in the Chess Olympiads:^[4]

• In 1970, at second reserve board in the 19th Chess Olympiad in Siegen (+4, =1, -4),
• In 1972, at first reserve board in the 20th Chess Olympiad in Skopje (+7, =3, -3),
• In 1974, at fourth board in the 21st Chess Olympiad in Nice (+7, =8, -3),
• In 1976, at second board in the 22nd Chess Olympiad in Haifa (+6, =1, -4),
• In 1978, at fourth board in the 23rd Chess Olympiad in Buenos Aires (+8, =4, -1) and won individual silver medal,
• In 1980, at second board in the 24th Chess Olympiad in La Valletta (+6, =3, -4),
• In 1982, at second board in the 25th Chess Olympiad in Lucerne (+3, =3, -4),
• In 1984, at second board in the 26th Chess Olympiad in Thessaloniki (+1, =4, -5),
• In 1986, at third board in the 27th Chess Olympiad in Dubai (+2, =2, -2),
• In 1988, at fourth board in the 28th Chess Olympiad in Thessaloniki (+2, =1, -4),
• In 1992, at third board in the 30th Chess Olympiad in Manila (+4, =3, -4).

Bellón López played for Spain in the European Team Chess Championships:^[5]

• In 1970, at fifth board in the 4th European Team Chess Championship in Kapfenberg (+0, =1, -5),
• In 1989, at second board in the 9th European Team Chess Championship in Haifa (+4, =3, -1) and won individual bronze medal.

Also Bellón López three times participated in Clare Benedict Chess Cup (1970, 1974–1977) and in team competition won gold (1970) medal.^[6]

In 1974, he was awarded the FIDE International Master (IM) title and received the FIDE Grandmaster (GM) title four years later. Bellón López is also a FIDE Developmental Instructor (2014). He is also known for inventing the Bellon Gambit in 1969 and it is still used by many players. One of his chess heroes was Mikhail Tal, former world champion for his creative and aggressive style of play. Juan finally beat him in a match in 1984 in a very memorable game.

He is married to Swedish chess FIDE Grandmaster Pia Cramling,^[7] and their daughter Anna Cramling Bellón (born 2002) also plays chess and has a chess YouTube channel.^[8]

• Juan Manuel Bellon Lopez rating card at FIDE  
• Juan Manuel Bellon Lopez player profile and games at Chessgames.com
• Juan Manuel Bellon Lopez chess games at 365Chess.com