Grandmaster Rafael Leitao convincingly won the 80th Campeonato Brasileiro Absoluto that was held from 13th to 21st December at the Hotel Cabo Branco Atlantic in João Pessoa, capital of Paraíba state.
Leitao collected 9,5 points from eleven games, leaving the nearest followers point and a half behind, to claim his 6th title of the Brazilian chess champion.
Last year champion GM Krikor Sevag Mekhitarian and FM Cesar Hidemitsu Umetsubo shared the second place with 8,0 points each. Umetsubo earned his final IM norm and is waiting for the title approval by FIDE.
The Championship was a 12-player round robin with the average elo 2417.
João Pessoa is the third oldest settlement in Brazil and is known as “the city where the sun rises first”, as it is the easternmost city in the Americas.
Final standings:
1. GM Leitao Rafael 2636 – 9,5
2-3. GM Mekhitarian Krikor Sevag 2566 and FM Umetsubo Cesar Hidemitsu 2279 – 8,0
4. IM Barbosa Evandro Amorim 2461 – 7,0
5-6. IM Santiago Yago De Moura 2450 and IM Molina Roberto Junio Brito 2424 – 6,5
7. IM Di Berardino Diego Rafael 2494 – 5,5
8-10. IM Macedo Maximo Iack 2369, FM Reis Paulo F. Jatoba De Olivei 2394 and IM Toth Christian Endre 2365 – 4,0
11. FM Brito Luismar 2276 – 2,0
12. FM Cavalcanti Francisco De Assis 2294 – 1,0
How many times has he won this?