Is it possible to imagine a top-10 player who has never won a major event, never seriously competed for the World Crown, sometimes didn't even play for years, yet is still respected and valued by everyone?
Leinier Dominguez-Perez was born on September 23, 1983 in Havana. He learned to play chess at the age of 7. Considered a top young talent, he achieved his first grandmaster norm at 15 and received his GM title at 17. Just a year later, Leinier won the first of five Cuban Championships and a major open tournament in Esbjerg. His first notable success came when he reached the quarterfinals of the 2004 World Knockout Championship, where he lost to Radjabov in the tie-break.
In the following years, the Cuban marked his presence with some impressive victories – in Havana, Barcelona, and Biel and then made headlines by winning the 2008 World Blitz Championship in Almaty. Dominguez only managed to qualify at the last moment but scored 11.5/15 and outperformed Ivanchuk, Svidler and Grischuk. He continued to play strongly in rapid, once reaching the 3rd position in the world.
Dominguez's next major success came in 2013 when he won the FIDE Grand Prix stage in Thessaloniki, and in 2016, he shared 2nd-4th places in Dortmund. At the 2016 Chess Olympiad in Baku, representing the Cuban team, he achieved the 2nd best result on the first board. In total, Leinier led his national team eight times before switching to representing the USA in 2018. He made this decision after becoming Caruana's second in the World Championship match against Carlsen. In 2007, he was Leko's second and informally he has provided analytical support to many of the world's top chess players. Additionally, he authored several popular books and, for a time, recorded lectures for an educational channel.
Dominguez came close to winning the U.S. Championship twice, finishing 2nd in 2019 and 3rd in 2022. And in 2023, stepping in at the last moment to replace Ding Liren, who had withdrawn, he managed to secure second place at the Sinquefield Cup without any preparation.
