Carlsen keeps smashing

by Alejandro Ramirez
3/9/2014 – The reigning World Champion continues annihilating competition the rapid events in Brazil. First he won a four-player knockout event, where he did concede a single draw (that qualified him to the final) and he was in trouble in just one game. At the end of the day he took the tournament, no questions asked. The open has started, and he is 5/5 but he is not alone.

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The reigning World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen will play in the International Chess Festival “Festa da Uva” to be held in Caxias do Sul between March 6 and 9, 2014.

The festivities continue in Brazil as Magnus Carlsen won the second event he participated in. The same players as the 4-player round robin, Milos, Carlsen, Leitao and Rodriguez faced each other now in a Knock-Out format, still using the 16 minute time control.

Leitao split his match against Milos after two draws but Milos was the one that took the match on tiebreaks. Carlsen won his first game by easily crushing Andres Rodriguez but the World Champion was in a precarious situation in the second game as the Uruguayan grandmaster had a clear advantage. However he missed how to convert it and with the draws Carlsen was to face off against Milos.

Milos (right) passed on tiebreaker over Leitao

Rodriguez and Leitao played for the third place title

Carlsen had only one little scare in the Knock Out

Carlsen used a reverse dragon in the first game against Milos and was able to outplay the Brazilian. The second game wasn't so clean as his pawn phalanx was blocked by Black's extra bishop, but at the end he managed to trick his opponent and got a 2-0 victory.

Replay Knock Out games

Select games from the dropdown menu above the board – games courtesy of TWIC

Rapid Open

The Open section is now underway and many grandmasters and amateurs have flown to Brazil for the chance to play with the World Champion. Five rounds have transpired and Carlsen leads with a perfect score, but he is not alone.

Nº.   Nome FED Elo  
1 GM CARLSEN Magnus NOR 2881  
2 GM NIELSEN Peter Heine DEN 2653  
3 GM TIVIAKOV Sergei NED 2651  
4 GM LEITÃO Rafael BRA 2645  
5 GM SHANKLAND Samuel L. USA 2611  
6 GM MECKING Henrique BRA 2606  
7 GM DELGADO RAMIREZ Neuris PAR 2586  
8 GM MARECO Sandro ARG 2585  
9 GM MILOS Gilberto BRA 2583  
10 GM FELGAER Ruben ARG 2563  
11 GM MEKHITARIAN Krikor Sevag BRA 2562  
12 GM FLORES Diego ARG 2557  
13 GM PEREZ PONSA Federico ARG 2521  
14 GM EL DEBS Felipe De Cresce BRA 2511  
15 GM CUBAS Jose Fernando PAR 2460

An impressive starting list! 383 players showed up to play in the rapid A section, while some others decided to play in the B group. The event has been described as quite chaotic.

Here are the pairings for the sixth round on the top boards:

Tab. Nome Rtg Pts. Resultado Pts. Nome Rtg
1 MILOS Gilberto 2583 5   5 CARLSEN Magnus 2881
2 MEKHITARIAN Krikor Sevag 2562 5   5 SHANKLAND Samuel L. 2611
3 CUBAS Jose Fernando 2460 5   5 DELGADO RAMIREZ Neuris 2586
4 NIELSEN Peter Heine 2653   5 PEREZ PONSA Federico 2521
5 LEITÃO Rafael 2645   VAN RIEMSDIJK Herman C. 2349
6 FELGAER Ruben 2563   MOLINA Roberto Junio Brito 2424
7 UMETSUBO Cesar Hidemitsu 2348   RODRIGUEZ VILA Andrés 2437
8 DIAS Anderson Tatsch 2210 4   4 TIVIAKOV Sergei 2651
9 MARECO Sandro 2585 4   4 BORN Carlos Rodrigo 2199
10 FLORES Diego 2557 4   4 BURGOS Marcelo Alves 2198

Grandmaster Tiviakov flew in to play Carlsen and enjoy the festivities of the Grape Festival. That behind him is called the "wine fountain!"

Pictures by GM Sergey Tiviakov

Official web site


Grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez has been playing tournament chess since 1998. His accomplishments include qualifying for the 2004 and 2013 World Cups as well as playing for Costa Rica in the 2002, 2004 and 2008 Olympiads. He currently has a rating of 2583 and is author of a number of popular and critically acclaimed ChessBase-DVDs.

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