Am. Continental Rd9: The final stretch and football

The tournament

The tournament is an eleven-round competition played at 40 moves in 90 minutes followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game and a 30-second increment as of move one. The first round is on May 15 with rounds every day until round eleven on May 24, including a double-round on May 17. Play typically starts at 5PM.

Although there are tiebreak scoring systems in place, starting with direct encounter, Buchholz, and more, in the event of a draw at the top, the top four qualifiers will be decided by a rapid tiebreak match or tournament, depending on the number, starting at 15 minutes plus a ten-second increment.

The prizes are US$5000 for first, $3400 for second, $2400 for third with prizes all the way to 20th place. Note that as FIDE events of this caliber, all norms scored count double, thus a player who scores a norm at the end of the competition will be considered to have earned two norms, not one.

Museum of Football

To call football a fever in South America would be like calling the Spanish Flu a sniffle. Uruguay is not only no exception, but their results far exceed what one might expect of a nation with a population of just over 3.3 million people.  The national squad has won numerous important titles such as two Olympic gold medals, two World Cups, and a record 15 Copa America titles.  In honor of its passion and success, Montevideo also has an impressive Museum of Football that is well worth visiting even if you have only a passing interest in the sport.

The museum is found at the Centenário Stadium (Centenary Stadium) where the greatest
home games take place. A visit to the stadium itself is a part of the entry fee.

The announcement of the first football game held by the Uruguay Association
Football league on June 10, 1900 (Click image for high-res version)

My friend FM Ricardo Teixeira is a huge football buff, and readily identified all the great
Uruguayan players of the past. The wall here is covered with flags and banners.

Uruguay's first great international success was the gold medal at the 1924 Olympic Games
held in Paris. They would repeat the feat in 1928 in Amsterdam.

Photos of the Olympians

A wall with individual images of Uruguay's first four goals

This is the picture of the 1930 team that won the first World Cup title

Though my friend eplained to me why this huge panoramic picture cannot possibly be an
actual image from the 1950 World Cup as suggested by the label, it is still from thereabouts
and shows just how huge it was with a capacity in excess of 150 thosuand spectators. To
give an idea of the scale, the barrel is about waist high. (Click image for high-res version)

This display dedicated to the Copa America is also Uruguay's greatest and most consistent
success. The Copa America is a South American Nations cup that has been won by Uruguay
no fewer than 15 times, the last being in 2011.

These displays are but the tip of the iceberg in a museum that is replete with stamps, shirts, cleats, photos, trophies, video footage from yesteryear, and much more.

Round nine

The ninth round continued the trend of reversals and nerve-wracking chess. While Peruvian Jorge Cori is now in the sole lead after nine rounds, it needs to be pointed out that four players at the top of the standings are not actually contenders for one of the four World Cup spots, having already secured qualification beforehand.

Cori - Hansen

Black almost seems to have a fortress here, but White finds a fantastic
shot well worth remembering. White to play and win.

Those four are Jorge Cori, Julio Granda Zuñiga, Sandro Mareco, and Cristobal Henriquez. Naturally, they will earn their due prizes according to their final ranking, but the qualification spots will be fought over by others. The importance of this in particular is that once the dust has settled, unless there are four clear leaders aside from them, there will be a tiebreak rapid event the excludes Cori, Granda Zuñiga, and co.

The stage where the top eight boards are played

Jorge Cori has shown enormous skill and fighting spirit, and in round nine defeated Canadian Eric Hansen. IM Luis Rodi introduces the encounter, "In the following game, the Peruvian grandmaster shows superb technique in transforming advantages and converting them into the full point. A deserving victory that gives him once more the sole lead."

GM Jorge Cori - GM Eric Hansen (annotated by IM Luis Rodi)

Diego Flores showed enormous grit as he fought back from a nasty position against Anton
Kovalyov to save the half-point. This keeps him in contention. (Click image for high-res version)

It was a disappointing day for Aleksander Lenderman, who struck dirt a second straight
time. GM Carlos Matamoros from Ecuador outplayed him in a hard game.

In the main playing hall, there is a set of three tables where the top three "best of the rest"
play to try and make it to the big stage. Here are IM Supi, GM Mekhitarian, and GM Kaidanov.

It is an inevitable attraction to check the game of the neighbor

GM Darcy Lima, vice-president of FIDE America, checks out some of the games

That black king looks singularly insecure there

IM Herman Claudius Van Riemsdijk

16-year-old IM Pablo Ismael Acosta is the protegé of GM Diego Flores

The main playing hall of the competition

Standings after nine rounds

Click for complete standings

The top eight boards of the event can be followed live at both the official site and on Playchess.

All photos by Albert Silver

Links Official tournament site Games in PGN The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 13 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.