9th Continental Chess Championship begins in Brazil, offers 4 slots for Baku World Chess Cup 2015

Hello chess blog friends, a Latin America chess news release states Cuban Grandmasters Isam Ortiz and Lazaro Bruzon will be taking part in the 9th Continental Chess Championship in Brazil starting Saturday. This event extends four tickets to the upcoming World Chess Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan next year.

Bruzón, second best player in Latin America due to his 2679 Elo points, is the top seed of the event. Meanwhile, Ortiz (2611) is the sixth in a list that includes as favorite players Peruvian Julio Granda (2674), the Paraguayan Axel Bachman (2645), Brazilian Rafael Leitao (2636) and American Samuel Shankland (2633).

According to information by the organisers, over 180 participants from 11 nations are expected to attend the competition in the Brazilian city of Rio Grande do Norte. The tournament will run from Oct 18-26. 

In these Continental chess tournament, Bruzón, currently 72nd in the world ranking list, won in 2005 and 2011, while Ortiz, a national champion was second in 2013. Granda took the title in 2012.


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World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen to attend Brazil Chess Fest in March

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2014

Hello everyone,

World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen will visit Brazil from 4th March to participate in the 13th Torneio Aberto Internacional de Xadrez "Festa da Uva" in Caxias do Sul, according to a FIDE chess tournament news update.

The chess events will include a blindfold chess simul with visually impaired players on 6th March, followed by a lecture, a 4-player knockout chess tournament, press conference and a regular simul with 35 players.

On 8-9th March Carlsen will play in the 13th Open Rapid Tournament "Festa da Uva". The tournament venue is club Recreio da Juventude, founded in 1912, placed in a beautiful area and offering complete comfort for chess tournaments and other sport events. The tournament format is slightly unusual, but already applied in 2010 and 2012 when the guests of honour were Vassily Ivanchuk and Judit Polgar.

The first two rounds will be played with the time control 16 min per player. Rounds 3-4 will be played with the time control 30 min per player. Rounds 5-9 will be played with the time control 60 min per player. In the last two rounds (8 and 9), draws will not be possible. In case of a tie, an Armageddon game will settle the score.

The organizers are expecting around 400 participants from the whole country. Already 80 players are signed in, with 14 Grandmasters among them.

Official website

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