São Paulo Opening Ceremony and simul

by Albert Silver
9/23/2012 – The opening ceremony to inaugurate the São Paulo stage of the Grand Slam Masters took place today, also to be held in Bilbao for the second half. It also settled the drawing of lots and the player pairings. On the day before, the players went to the CEU in Jaguaré where they played part of a simul, but also met fans who were excited to meet the great champions. Pictorial by Albert Silver.

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São Paulo Opening Ceremony and simul

Report and pictures by Albert Silver

The opening ceremony to inaugurate the São Paulo stage of the grand slam masters took place today, to also be held in Bilbao for the second half. It also settled the drawing of lots and the player pairings, for which the São Paulo rounds have been published. On the day before, the players went to the CEU in Jaguaré where they played part of a simul (the opening move actually), but also met fans who were excited to meet the great champions. CEU, which means Unified Educational Center, is part of a city effort to provide its more than 50 thousand children, with extra curricular activities which include chess.

Simul at CEU Jaguaré


The world champion Vishy Anand and Sergey Karjakin joke before the event started


The time-honored group picture with dignitaries


Fabiano Caruana, Magnus Carlsen, and Levon Aronian bide their time


The children were excited to play the champions


When they lacked paper they asked to have their t-shirts signed


Magnus Carlsen signs for the children


Fabiano Caruana makes the first move


Levon Aronian shakes hands with his young opponent


The players posing with the children afterwards


On his way to the van, Carlsen was caught up by some children for a last picture

The opening ceremony


The opening ceremony went smoothly and was open to the public


Karjakin, Aronian, and Carlsen


The mayor Gilberto Kassab greets the players and audience


The players patiently wait through the proceedings


Chief Arbiter Herman Claudius van Riemsdijk coordinated the drawing of lots


Magnus Carlsen tried to show the number but found it sealed in an envelope


Avid fans could not wait and snuck in a request to Magnus for an autograph. He was
gracious about it and duly signed their shirts.

Photos by Albert Silver and official site

Schedule and results

Round 1: Monday, September 24, 15:00h
Viswanathan Anand 
    Francisco Vallejo
Levon Aronian 
    Sergey Karjakin
Fabiano Caruana 
    Magnus Carlsen
Games – Report
Round 2: Tuesday, September 25, 15:00h
Francisco Vallejo 
    Magnus Carlsen
Sergey Karjakin 
    Fabiano Caruana
Viswanathan Anand 
    Levon Aronian
Games– Report
Round 3: Wednesday, September 26, 15:00h
Levon Aronian 
    Francisco Vallejo
Fabiano Caruana 
    Viswanathan Anand
Magnus Carlsen 
    Sergey Karjakin
Games– Report
Round 4: Friday, September 28, 15:00h
Fabiano Caruana 
    Francisco Vallejo
Magnus Carlsen 
    Levon Aronian
Sergey Karjakin 
    Viswanathan Anand
Games– Report
Round 5: Saturday, September 29, 15:00h
Francisco Vallejo 
    Sergey Karjakin
Viswanathan Anand 
    Magnus Carlsen
Levon Aronian 
    Fabiano Caruana
Games – Report

São Paulo partners

 

Links

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Topics: São Paulo/Bilbao Masters 2012
Born in the US, he grew up in Paris, France, where he completed his Baccalaureat, and after college moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He had a peak rating of 2240 FIDE, and was a key designer of Chess Assistant 6. In 2010 he joined the ChessBase family as an editor and writer at ChessBase News. He is also a passionate photographer with work appearing in numerous publications.
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