In November 2012 Frederic Friedel and his wife Ingrid toured the Grand
Canyon, Bryce, Zion, Monument Valley, the lakes, etc. in a single-engine Cessna
piloted by the Unix-inventor Ken Thompson. On the trip they flew over Las Vegas,
and took the following aerial pictures.
Las Vegas was founded in 1905 and incorporated as a city in 1911. It is located
in an arid basin on the desert floor of Nevada and is surrounded by dry mountains.
Much of the landscape is rocky and dusty, but the area is subject to torrential
flash floods. The city's tolerance for gambling and various forms of adult entertainment
earned it the title of Sin City, and made it world famous.
The gambling and entertainment industry is mostly focused in the "Las
Vegas Strip", where the
largest and most notable casinos and buildings are to be found
In this aerial photo you can see the Eiffel Tower, next to the chess venue,
Bally's Casino Resort,
which is in the top centre of the blow-up image above
This is what the area looks like on the ground, when Las Vegas wakes up –
at night!
You
can explore the location of the Las Vegas chess tournament in Google Maps here
Bally’s Casino billboard with Caesar’s Palace visible in the
background
The Eiffel Tower, reconstructed in the Nevada Desert
This year's North American Open, held at Bally's Casino Resort on December
26th-December 30th, drew a whopping 633 players competing in seven sections.
There were some special anti-cheating rules in place: "In round 3 or after,
players with scores of 80% or more and their opponents may not use headphones,
earphones, or cellphones or go to a different floor of the hotel without Director permission, and must submit to a search for electronic devices if requested
by Director."
North American Open 2012 final standings (after nine rounds)
The open section featured 16 GMs and was won in convincing fashion by the Uzbekistani
Grandmaster Timur Gareev.
| # |
Name |
Rtng |
State |
Pts |
Prize |
| 1 |
GM Timur Gareev |
2660 |
TX |
8.0 |
$9690.00 |
| 2 |
FM John Daniel Bryant |
2416 |
CA |
7.0 |
$4704.00 |
| 3 |
GM Chao Li |
2670 |
CHN |
6.5 |
$1474.00 |
| 4 |
GM Sam Shankland |
2595 |
CA |
6.5 |
$1474.00 |
| 5 |
GM Alejandro Ramirez |
2554 |
TX |
6.5 |
$1474.00 |
| 6 |
IM Zhanibek Amanov |
2359 |
KAZ |
6.5 |
$2352.00 |
| 7 |
GM Sergey Erenburg |
2637 |
ISR |
6.0 |
$715.40 |
| 8 |
GM Gior Kacheishvili |
2602 |
NY |
6.0 |
$715.40 |
| 9 |
GM Joshua Edward Friedel |
2494 |
NH |
6.0 |
$715.40 |
| 10 |
GM Dmitry Gurevich |
2485 |
IL |
6.0 |
$715.40 |
| 11 |
GM Arthur Chibukhchian |
2448 |
ARM |
6.0 |
$715.40 |
| 12 |
FM Yian Liou |
2352 |
CA |
6.0 |
$715.40 |
| 13 |
GM Jon Ludvig Hammer |
2633 |
NOR |
5.5 |
$47.00 |
| 14 |
GM Aleksandr Lenderman |
2619 |
NY |
5.5 |
$47.00 |
| 15 |
GM Tamaz Gelashvili |
2566 |
GEO |
5.5 |
$47.00 |
| 16 |
GM Mikheil Kekelidze |
2491 |
GEO |
5.5 |
$47.00 |
| 17 |
IM Mackenzie S Molner |
2479 |
AZ |
5.5 |
$47.00 |
| 18 |
IM Lukas Cernousek |
2450 |
CZE |
5.5 |
$47.00 |
| 19 |
IM Bindi Cheng |
2397 |
CAN |
5.5 |
$47.00 |
| 20 |
Kayden W Troff |
2365 |
UT |
5.5 |
$47.00 |
| 21 |
FM Michael H Bodek |
2316 |
NY |
5.5 |
$47.00 |
| 22 |
Kyron W Griffith |
2230 |
CA |
5.5 |
$47.00
|
GM Timur Gareev finished with an undefeated 8.0/9, a full point ahead of his
nearest rival, to claim convincingly the title of North American Open Champion
along with a prize of nearly $10,000 for his efforts throughout the week. FM
John Bryant finished in second place with 7.0/9, scoring a GM norm in the process,
to claim a prize of $4,704.
IM Zhanibek Amanov also scored a GM norm, finishing in a group of four players
with 6.5/9, as well as taking the Under 2500 prize. FMs Yian Liou and Michael
Bodek both scored IM norms.
The “Uzbek Dragon” Timur Gareev, is exceptionally talented; right
before playing in Vegas, he visited Hawai’i, where he gave a chess camp
and played a blindfold simultaneous exhibition against 27 players.
His score? 24 wins, two draws and one loss! At some point, GM Gareev wants to
break the world record for the most boards in a blindfold exhibition, and has
set a personal goal of 64 boards.
In third place: Chinese GM Chao Li, 2670, with 6.5/9 points
GM Dmitry Gurevich from Illinois, 2485, who has won or tied for
first in the US Open four times, in 10th place with 6.0/9
55th: FM Ylon Schwartz from Texas, , rated 2239, with 3.5/9
Why do we mention him especially? Ylon Schwartz may not have scored a spectacular
result in the chess tournament, but this man, who hails from Brooklyn, New York,
is definitely more successful as a professional
poker player:
Ylon Schwartz
has won over US $4.6 million and a WSOP
bracelet playing poker
Another very interesting player: nine-year-old FM Awonder
Liang who, besides being an U8 World Champion, currently holds records for
being the youngest player ever to defeat an IM in a tournament game and the youngest
to reach a US Expert rating, attained when he was only eight years and seven
days old.
Biker guy: a player from the Under 2100 section
Photos by Beau Mueller, aerial pictures of Las Vegas by Ingrid
Friedel
Copyright
ChessBase
