Rafael Leitao wins sixth Brazilian title

Chronicles of the Brazilian Championship

By GM Rafael Leitao

The end of the 80th Brazilian Chess Championship was held in the city of João Pessoa, from 13 to 21 December 2013. After eleven hard-fought rounds, I won my sixth title with eight wins and three draws. In second was GM Krikor Mekhitarian and bronze went to the amazing MF César Umetsubo.

João Pessoa is a beautiful city in the northeastern Brazilian coast. Besides the lush beaches, it is worth noting the city's excellent infrastructure, not to mention the warmth of the people, always solicitous and with good cheer. With a top-notch hotel and a spectacular ocean view, the "only" thing left to do was to transform these natural beauties into good moves on the board - easier said than done!

The beautiful Joao Pessoa

The list of participants is noteworthy by the presence of only two grandmasters. Considering that Brazil is a country with about 200 million inhabitants, including eleven grandmasters in all, there is no question that only two grandmasters in the national championship is very few! Without delving too deeply into the issue of shortage of professional players in the country, the fact is that the circumstances made it impossible for some of our strongest chess players to participate, and as a result they eventually declined their invitations.

Thus, the event had two clear favorites: The author of these lines, with the highest rating, and the 2012 champion and rising star, Krikor Mekhitarian (yes, people with similar surnames usually play chess very well!). But favoritism does not always play out as it should, and who says there is no luck in chess? Had my first-round opponent found one of many possible winning blows, who can say how the tournament would have ended ...

Rafael Leitao (right) playing Roberto Molina under the intense study of GM Darcy Lima

Ultimately, a great part of a chess player's success can be summarized in a single word: confidence. In the second game, I used a classic device to assert my initiative and with a good win, I began to feel good about my chances in the tournament.

The tournament only began to clarify in the eighth round. At this point, Krikor had a half-point lead over Umetsubo and myself. I won a tough game with black against IM Yago Santiago, while Krikor, also black, had to split the point from a worse position against IM Molina. Still, what happened in Umetsubo's game was truly dramatic, and in all my years as a professional I cannot recall seeing such a devastating turnaround:

Can you believe this game ended in a victory for Black? Apparently the young player of white (affectionately nicknamed "Samurai") felt the pressure of fighting for the title. This defeat shook him so badly that the next game he decided to draw right in the opening. Sometimes chess can be cruel! Anyway, his participation was nothing short of a resounding success. Not only did he score an IM norm, but he finished in third with bronze and secured a spot for the final in 2014.

Cesar 'Samurai' Umetsubo with his third-place trophy. His performance was so
impressive, that if one more of his opponents had had a grandmaster title, he
would have earned a GM norm instead.

On the other hand, Mekhitarian was surprisingly defeated by strong IMs Barbosa Evandro and Yago Santiago, white in both games, and consequently I won the title with a round to spare.

The top three finishers (left to right): GM Krikor Mekhitarian (silver), GM Rafael
Leitao (gold), and FM Cesar Umetsubo (bronze)

I would like to think that this sixth title has a certain symbolism. Who can say whether Brazil might not be looking forward to a sixth title of another kind in 2014?...

Final standings

Links Official tournament site All 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 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.