David was a slower starter than others in his generation, only crossing the 2000 rating mark at the age of 13, but he’s made up for it since. He took bronze at the U16 European Championship in Prague in 2012 and silver in the U18 World Championship in Al-Ain (UAE) in 2013, while he’s won the Spanish Championship in various age groups and all possible formats, finally getting his hands on the main title in 2020.

David gained the International Master title in 2012, the Grandmaster title in 2013, crossed 2600 in 2014 and has continued to make slow but steady progress. He won silver in the 2014 European Championship, has come very close to winning the Gibraltar Masters on more than one occasion and finally broke through the 2700 barrier with a fine end to 2019 and start to 2020. He finished in 5th place, above Magnus Carlsen, in the Grand Swiss on the Isle of Man, with his performance there including a fine win over Alexander Grischuk.

He kept up that level in Wijk aan Zee in January 2020 to win the Tata Steel Challengers and qualify for perhaps his biggest challenge yet, the 2021 Tata Steel Masters.