FIDE Master (2003); International Master (2013); Grandmaster (2017).
International Master norms (1)
Espinosa's first three IM norms were gained at the Group 2 Championship of Cuba in February 2011, the Capablanca Memorial Open in Havana in May 2012, and the Capablanca Open which ended on 1 May 2013 with Espinosa scoring the 6/10 he needed for his 3rd IM norm. His application for an IM title was not lodged until after two more norms were achieved in 2015, namely from the Cuban Championship in February and at the XXIV Guillermo Garcia Tournament Elite Group in June 2015, in both cases scoring well above IM norm requirements. The norms from the Group 2 Championship in 2011 and from the Cuban Championship 2015 are also GM norms.
Consequently, his IM title comes into effect on 1 May 2013 as his rating was above 2400 at the time. Another GM norm (in the 2016 Carlos Torre Repetto Memorial) earned him the GM title as his rating had exceeded 2500.
Tournaments
Espinosa won the 9 April National (2) in 2003 and the ESFA Cup Group 1 in 2005. He also placed =1st at the Leoncio Vidal In Memoriam played in Camajuani in May 2006 alongside Orelvis Perez Mitjans and at the Elite Battle of Ideas tournament staged in Cardenas, Matanzas in June 2006 alongside Humberto L Blanco Ronquillo. In 2007 he was the clear winner in the 2nd Remberto Fernandez Memorial (Group Torre) tournament with 7/10. In July 2008, he was outright first at the Luis Concepcion Santa Clara Villa with 7/9. In October 2010 he won the Villa Clara Provincial Final with 8/10 ahead of Diasmany Otero Acosta. In February 2011, he was 2nd at the University Championship in Havana. In May 2012 he was =7th at the Capablanca Memorial Open, and gained his 2nd IM norm. In September 2014 he was =1st with 5.5/8 alongside Roberto Garcia Pantoja and Mariano Ortega Amarelle at the XIII Andres Clemente Vazquez tournament. Two months later he won the Final Provincial de Villa Clara 2014 with 7/9. In June 2015 he was =1st at the 24th Guillermo Garcia (Elite Group) with 6/9, winning the event on tiebreak ahead of Omar Almeida Quintana.
Championships
<National> Espinosa won the Cuban Championship Group 2 qualifier in January 2011, thereby gaining his first IM norm (also a GM norm), and was second in the Cuban Championship in 2015 with 9/13, half a point behind Isan Reynaldo Ortiz Suarez and sufficient to earn a GM norm.
<World> He qualified via his 2nd placement at the Zonal 2.3 Santa Elena in Ecuador to play in the World Cup (2015). There he met and lost in the first round match to Russian super-GM Sergey Karjakin, thereby bowing out of the event.
Sources and references
(1) https://ratings.fide.com/title_appl...; (2) Marks the general strike in 1958: Wikipedia article: Timeline of the Cuban Revolution
http://www.bidmonfa.com/espinosa_er...
Wikipedia article: Ermes Espinosa Veloz