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The local legend Joao de Souza Mendes in 1953
The first official Brazilian championship to determine the title was held in 1927 in Rio de Janeiro, the capital then, and was won by Joao de Souza Mendes, who was to be a dominant force in Brazilian chess like no other player in its history. Consider that while his first title was in 1927, his last one was in 1958, 31 years later. It was his seventh title.
GM Jaime Sunye Neto in 1980 at the Chess Olympiad in Malta
The second player to reach seven titles was also Brazil's second grandmaster, Jaime Sunye Neto, winning it almost in succession 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982 and 1983, the last shared jointly with Marcos Paolozzi.
Giovanni Vescovi was the first to tie the record for seven titles
The third player to repeat this feat was the former prodigy Giovanni Vescovi, who won came within a fraction of winning his first title at age sixteen in 1994 when he tied for first, but his father forebade him from playing the playoff against co-winner Aron Corrêa, who became champion by default. (My thanks to 30-time finalist and three-time champion Herman Claudius van Riemsdijk for setting the author straight). He then won it in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2006, 2007, 2009, and 2010, thus equaling the record by Souza Mendes and Jaime Sunye Neto.
Joining the club is top Brazilian player Rafael Leitão
Joining their ranks this year is GM Rafael Leitão, no less a prodigy, winner of the World Youth under-12 and under-18 championship, and now holder of seven national titles. Rafael won his first Brazilian Championship in 1997 at the age of seventeen. This was in fact the 1996 title, but he had to wait until 1997 to win a three-way playoff against Giovanni Vescovi and Darcy Lima. Showing stil great form, he went on to win the 1997 title as well, clear first this time. After settling at four titles by 2010, Vescovi's withdrawal from competition opened the way to opportunity and Leitao took it. In his last three participations, in 2011, 2013, and 2014, he has taken first in all, and announced that he was indeed seeking the record.
This year the Brazilian Championship, which has long kept a fairly low profile in spite of its
national prestige, leveraged the ease of modern technology by providing live video coverage
by GM Darcy Lima, teamed with Juliana Rizo. In national events, this is unheard of, and it was
a big success with fans from ten countries connecting to watch, and over 22 thousand visits.
The event was held in Joao Pessoa, the capital of the state of Paraíba in Brazil. Founded in 1585,
it gained the distinction of being the "second greenest city in the world" after a survey carried out
by the United Nations showed its seven square kilometers of forested land was behind Paris only.
In spite of the clear favoritism of Rafael Leitao as the top seed and highest rated player in
Brazil, he was certainly not without challengers, all seeking their own moment of glory. In
round seven, he faced GM Felipe El Debs, one of his rivals, and won in emphatic fashion.
The second seed was GM Krikor Mekhitarian who sought to repeat his 2012 win
The three winners: Felipe El Debs (second), Rafael Leitão (first), Krikor Mekhitarian (third)
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