Vassily Ivanchuk wins in Caxias do Sul (Updated)

9-rounds rapid tournament, IM Sandro Mareco with same points but weaker tiebreak

The XI Torneio Festa da Uva with 9 rounds Swiss and rapid time control was held on 6-7th March in Caxias do Sul, the second largest city in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The tournament had a colossal turnout of 292 participants, and among them special stars Vassily Ivanchuk from Ukraine and legendary Ulf Andersson from Sweden.

As expected, Vassily Ivanchuk dominated the event, but Argentinian IM Sandro Mareco also played in exceptional form and the two finally shared the first place with 8.0 points each. Brazilian stars, GM Gilberto Milos and GM Giovanni Vescovi, each six-times Brazilian chess champion, and the young IM Krikor Sevag Mekhitarian completed the race with 7.5 points.

GM Rafael Leitão and GM Henrique Costa Mecking are in the group of players with 7.0, while the 2008 Brazil champion GM André Diamant collected 6.5, the same as GM Ulf Andersson.

Final standings:
1-2. GM Vassily Ivanchuk (UKR 2748, better tiebreak) and IM Sandro Mareco (ARG 2533) - 8.0
3-5. GM Gilberto Milos (BRA 2606), IM Krikor Sevag Mekhitarian (BRA 2490) and GM Giovanni Vescovi (BRA 2629) - 7.5
6-18. GM Rafael Leitão (BRA 2619), GM Henrique Costa Mecking (BRA 2548), GM Diego Flores (ARG 2580), IM Bernardo Roselli (URU 2386), IM Everaldo Matsuura (BRA 2479), GM Andrés Rodriguez (URU 2504), FM Alfeu Junior Varela Bueno (BRA 2349), IM Dragan Stamenkovic (SRB 2384), IM Edson Tsuboi (BRA 2413), IM Herman Claudius Van Riemsdijk (BRA 2416), FM Yago de Moura Santiago (BRA 2285), FM Alvaro Aranha (BRA 2294) and Geanfrancesco Pereira (BRA 1967) 7.0 etc

Thanks to e3e5.com

Blog do Disconzi informs about Ivanchuk's ritual of leaving the noisy playing hall in-between rounds to maintain concentration in the isolated woods.

From IM Krikor Sevag Mekhitarian's blog we learn about the peculiar changes in the time control throughout the tournament. The first two rounds were played with 16 minutes on the clock, then 3rd and 4th with 30 minutes, and, finally, let the 5th to 9th round with 60 minutes each.

Draws were not possible in the last two rounds. In case of tie, a new Armageddon game was to be played - White with 6 minutes, Black with 5, White needed to win to get the whole point.

Vassily Ivanchuk

GM Giovanni Vescovi

IM Dragan Stamenkovic

GM André Diamant