Chess on the Strip
By Ilya Krasik
It is hard to imagine a place on our planet which would be less associated
with chess than Las Vegas. There are simply too many appeals that the city
in the desert of Nevada has to offer: gambling and strip clubs, cocktail parties
and famous shows, boxing matches and of course the prospect of getting married
in 60 seconds or less. It was my second time in Vegas in three months, this
trip I knew would a bit different considering that the previous time I was
out here on a wild bachelor party with eight of my friends. This time at least
I intended to play chess.....
I arrived to Vegas on a Friday night; the chess tournament was starting only
on Monday morning as I had registered for the three-day schedule. After surprisingly
being upgraded to a nice suite with view from my window overlooking the famous
Vegas “Strip”, armed with a strategy book on Blackjack I felt confident
that I was not only going to win the chess tournament but also cause financial
damage to this casino. Three hours and a dozen drinks later I was minus $500
and had to admit that perhaps I better stick to chess.
That's me, Ilya Krasik, in the casino where I shed $500
My chess tournament started off on the wrong foot too, first I got into an
argument with one overzealous TD who was giving me a very hard time for taking
a picture with a flash exactly 30 seconds after the supposed cut-off time (only
the first ten minutes of each round were fair game for flash photography).
Then I managed to let my first round opponent off the hook from a virtually
zugzwang position, where I could win anyway and anyhow, the resulting draw
almost felt like a loss.
After the game, I took a deep breath, sucking in all the Las Vegas “fresh
air” (smoking is allowed absolutely anywhere here, in contrast to most
US cities, where it is banned everywhere) stopped gambling and other distracting
activities and reeled off four straight wins. This brought about the interesting
scenario where I had to play someone who had half a point more than I, to decide
first place in the expert section.
A beautiful lake in the middle of the desert: Hotel Bellagio
Nothing could prepare me for the fiasco that followed. First of all he of
course offered a draw on move five or so, I replied that I want to play on.
A few minutes later I had realized that I don’t know what I am doing
in this opening line and I am already worse. So I offered a draw, knowing that
it suited my opponent just fine. He would get clear first place and some $3.5
grand for his efforts. The reply was a resounding “no way”, but
then he motioned for me to come to the side for a chat. It was very strange
but I joined him and he said that he understand I wanted to make money and
that he would agree to a draw if I would pay him a few hundred dollars
from my prize money. This completely blew my composure. I told him off and
returned to the board enraged, swearing under my breath and shaking my head
in disbelief. There was no sense in complaining, he would simply deny it. I
needed to beat him despite my bad position – now it was a matter of principle.
Unfortunately it was not to be, and I was unable to accomplish this important
task. As a result, declining the initial draw offer had cost me about $1,000.
In the spirit of the city I was in, I had declined to take the safe route and
gambled!
GM Varuzhan Akobian (right), who tied for first
The Open section was quite strong, and the GMs kept coming and coming. What
I mean is that there were three different schedules: two, three or four days.
So just when I thought that all the serious players have already assembled
I noticed a new bunch of GMs battling it out in the two-day section, which
more resembled a rapid then a classical chess tournament.
GMs Alexander Wojtkiewicz and Vadim Milov in the blitz tournament
The grandmasters came from all over the world, most notably GM Moiseenko from
Ukraine, who recently won the gold medal with Team Ukraine at Calvià
Olympics. Then there was the well-known GM Vadim Milov from Israel, now living
in Switzerland. Our local GMs as well as frequent flyer mile visitors were
also present: Shabalov, Wojtkiewicz, Serper, Yermolinky, Akobian, Kudrin, Becerra
and current US Women Champion WGM Rusa Goletiani.
Round 1, board 1 of the four-day schedule: WGM Rusa Goletiani, US women's
champion, vs GM Jan Ehlvest from Estonia. Despite being rated significantly
lower than Ehlvest, it was Jan who had to fight for a draw in the endgame.
The top four boards were cordoned off from the rest of the room, and large
demo boards were constantly updated for the pleasure of the crowd watching.
You could see patzers tapping something in their PDAs, armed with powerful
Fritz software. They were getting a kick out of seeing more on their little
screens than the GMs sweating over the boards.
GM Moiseenko, at the end of a great tournament
GM Moiseenko (2669 Fide), visiting us from Ukraine, jumped to an early lead,
scoring four straight wins and taking sole possession of first place. However,
draws in the last two rounds allowed others to catch up. The result was a four-way
tie between GMs Moiseenko, Milton, who drew in the last round, Varuzhan Akobian
from California, who got into the leader's pack by beating Lev Milman in the
last round, and likewise GM Gregory Serper, who overcame GM Nikola Mitkov.
The entrance to Bally's Hotel, where the event was held
Over 500 people in total participated in this tournament, spread out into eight
sections. The open section was very strong with some 20 GMs, several WGMs and
a number of IMs. The tournament was held in the Bally's Hotel and Casino, located
in the heart of the famous Vegas Strip, from December 26 to 30, 2004. The event
ran quite efficiently and smoothly, except for a few minor problems with pairings.
The playing conditions were excellent. This event was directed by Bill Goichberg
and the Continental Chess Association.
Me and my friend Osamu Katsuhara, who was clear first in the under 2300
group, with four upsets against masters. Osamu is only rated 2070.
