12/26/2022 – GM Alexandr Fier and FM Juliana Sayumi Terao obtained outright victories at the Brazilian Championships (open and women’s, respectively). The events took place on December 15-23 at the Hotel Jangadeiro in Recife, the capital of Pernambuco. Fier grabbed his fourth national title by scoring 9½/11 points, while Terao dominated the women’s field and obtained a perfect 9/9 to claim her sixth national title. | Photo: Albert Silver (2018)

9/12/2020 – Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world size-wise and the sixth biggest by population. It brought us famous football stars like Pele, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Romario and Neymar. Chess-wise, Brazil is a bit more of an underdog. Juliana Terao on the other hand won the Brazilian Woman's Championship five times in a row (2015 to 2020), and sticks out with achieving a rating of over 2300 in 2017, which no other Brazilian woman has ever reached before. In our interview with the FM and WIM, we talk about chess in Brazil, why her middle-name is "Sayumi", and how she and other South-Americans deal with the coronavirus situation.

2/18/2018 – In an effort to innovate and breathe some new life into the Brazilian Championship, the 84th edition, held in Rio de Janeiro, was structured as a knockout event like the World Cup. Bringing in an eclectic field headed by chess legend Henrique Mecking, it came down to a match between Krikor Mekhitarian and Alexandr Fier, won by the latter in a final thrilling game. | Photo: Albert Silver

11/16/2017 – It has been literally decades since Rio de Janeiro, nicknamed the “Wonderful City” in Portuguese, has been host to a strong international tournament. The most famous by far would be the Interzonal held in 1979. The 1st Duchamp Chess Festival is underway now, held in world famous Copacabana, and brings masters and grandmasters including Brazilian legend, Henrique Mecking. | Photos: Albert Silver

3/4/2017 – It really must be considered a Cinderella story, since by all means, Everaldo Matsuura was not even supposed to be in the final, let alone win it, yet by forceful contortions of fate, the friendly player from the state of Paraná stormed away with the event, winning his second Brazilian title after 26 years. Juliana Terao crushed the Women’s Championship with 8.5/9. Here is the large illustrated report with GM analysis.