San Juan, Puerto Rico.- Josselyn Mendoza Recio, the top chess player for the Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa, has her sights set on participating in the Pan American Amateur Championship U-2000, which will take place in Brazil at the end of this month.

To this end, she is undertaking a training camp in Puerto Rico where she has faced players from Europe, North America, and the Caribbean, with very favorable results for the Psychology student at UAS:

"My preparation began by joining the San Juan Chess Club team, where I've had the opportunity to receive masterclasses from Grandmaster Luka Budisavljevic. Each session has been a great learning experience and has allowed me to strengthen my game to apply it in every tournament."

"In my first tournament, a Blitz format, I achieved ninth place overall, being the top female player in the event, in addition to surpassing the current champion of Puerto Rico."

"Subsequently, I participated in the fourth edition of the ONA-VEA International Tournament, in the rapid format, U-2300 category, where I secured third place overall and first place among the women. In the final round, I drew with the tournament champion, CM Diego Zilleruelo, who had a notable performance in the 2026 Central American and Caribbean Games and is part of Puerto Rico's Olympic team."

With these excellent results, the player native to Culiacán, Sinaloa, continued to represent the San Juan Chess Club throughout the "Island of Enchantment":

"To close out July, I participated in the III José Celso Barbosa International Chess Tournament, in the classic format (90+30), where I was crowned the women's champion, achieving first place in my category and a very positive performance."

"Although this preparation has been accompanied by good results, I know there is still much work to be done. I still have four more tournaments to compete in across different formats before traveling to Brazil, with the firm goal of becoming the Pan American U-2000 champion."

Finally, Josselyne Mendoza expressed her gratitude to those who supported her in making this trip to the Caribbean: her family, the Municipal Sports Institute in Culiacán, through its director, José Alberto Beltrán, and the Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa, among others.

For the past 5 years, Joselyne Mendoza Recio has represented UAS chess in national CONDDE or ANUIES events, as well as Sinaloa in national championships and Mexico in international events.