Millionaire Chess 3: Jones, Swiercz, Cordova, and Zhou

by Albert Silver
10/10/2016 – The rounds five to seven were among the most intense, as they meant the cutoff for those who would get to see a big payday on Millionaire Monday, and those who would be left fighting the last two 'normal' rounds. After the dust settled in round seven, every section saw playoffs needed to choose the qualifiers. It wasn't just about the very top GMs in the Open section, as even players rated under 1200 will fight for thousands of dollars!

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The last key three rounds saw as much drama as one would expect given the stakes. Truth be told, calling the rounds five to seven the ‘last’ ones, is slightly misleading, though not entirely. The reason is the structure of the overall event: after seven rounds, the top four players of each section will qualify for a special event, “Millionaire Monday” whether the Open, with its $30 thousand top prize, or the Under-1200 section with $4800 going to first.

These four players in each section will then fight a knockout phase with two semifinals followed by a final, to fight for the top prizes. However, that is not the end of the tournament for the other players. While Millionaire Monday will be fought by only those players, the sections they qualified from will play another two rounds for a total of nine. Players who missed out on the biggest payday will still not be denied a day of chess as they play for honor, cash, ratings, and norms. This is actually very well thought out since imagine you booked a hotel and flight for the full event, failed to make the cut, and found yourself twiddling your thumbs. That would have been immensely disappointing. Kudos once more to Maurice Ashley and Amy Lee for having planned so thoroughly.

Shimanov - Adhiban

The tournament was rife with tactics found and missed. Here Indian GM Adhiban seized his chance and won on the spot. Black to play and win.

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It is always a pleasure to see players not only try to outdo one another over the board, but also in the classiest appearance. If dressing were given an Elo, Glenn Umstead would be rated 2700.

Prince Eric Guipi Bopala shows there is no age to look dapper

Style is very much a matter of taste, but nothing a cool hat won't help

Alice Dong is rated 1953 and playing in the under 2200 section due to her 2153 USCF rating, plus the regulation that states a FIDE rating will have 60 added to seed in the appropriate section.

Alejandro Ramirez had a very tough game against US prodigy IM Awonder Liang. It shows.

Awonder Liang - Alejandro Ramirez

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Training Position
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 Qc7 6.0-0 Bc5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.Nc3 d6 9.a4 b6 10.f4 Nd7 11.Qe2 Ngf6 12.Kh1 Bb7 13.Bd2 h5 14.Rf3 g6 15.Raf1 Ng4 16.Nd1 Bf6 17.Rg3 Bh4 18.Rh3 Bf6 19.Rg3 Bh4 20.Rgf3 Bf6 21.h3 Bg7 22.Rg3 Ngf6 23.Bc3 h4 24.Rgf3 Nh5 25.Be1 e5 26.f5 Nf4 27.Rxf4 exf4 28.Rxf4 g5 29.Rf1 Bf6 30.Ne3 Kf8 31.Ng4 Re8 32.Qe3 Rg8 33.Bb4 Be5 34.Nd4 Ke7 35.Nh6 Rh8
White's advantage is palpable as Black finds himself with fewer and fewer options. White to play and win.
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Liang,A2478Ramirez,A25681–02016B43Millionaire Chess Open 20166.11

Swedish GM Pontus Carlsson

The conceiver of the Millionaire Chess event, GM Maurice Ashley

In the playoffs, only Gawain Jones (above) was the clear seed. He was not without good fortune as GM Chirila lost a drawn endgame on time, while Adhiban managed to commit seppuku over the board in a drawn endgame as well, but that is the nature of chess, and one can only strive to play one's best. Fortune favors the skilled.

US Junior GM Jeffery Xiong was one of the players fighting in the playoff, but the round-robin blitz event didn't work out, and he missed the cut. he will continue to play unitl round nine in the Open section.

Chinese GM Jianchao Zhou, rated 2630, on the other hand did make it. He played an excellent event, beating Sam Shankland in a fascinating endgame with a knight for three pawns that could have gone either way.

Jianchao Zhou - Sam Shankland

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1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.Ne5 e6 7.f3 Bb4 8.Nxc4 0-0 9.Kf2 c5 10.e4 Bg6 11.Na2 Nc6 12.Nxb4 Nxb4 13.Qb3 Nxe4+ 14.fxe4 Bxe4 15.Bf4 Qf6 16.Qe3 Rad8 17.Qxe4 Rxd4 18.Qe5 Rxf4+ 19.Kg1 Qxe5 20.Nxe5 Rd8 21.Rc1 Rd5 22.Nc4 Nd3 23.Bxd3 Rxd3 24.g3 Rfd4 25.Kf2 f6 26.Rhe1 e5 27.Re3 Kf7 28.Rxd3 Rxd3 29.Ke2 Rd4 30.Nd2 b6 31.a5 Ra4 32.axb6 axb6 33.Rc3 Rb4 34.b3 Ke6 35.Rc4 Rxc4 36.bxc4 f5 37.h4 e4 38.Ke3 Ke5 39.Nb1 g6 40.Nc3 h6 41.Ne2 In spite of the 0.00 evaluation by the engines, the endgame is still double-edged as either side could win if a misstep is made. If White becomes too adventurous with his knight, trying to capture b6, the two extra pawns in the center could be his undoing, while if Black is not careful, White could infiltrate, and clean up.
Both sides are walking a mutual highwire act. Here Black has only one move to maintain the balance. What is it? Tip: work out also why at least a couple of the alternatives would lose.
  • Start an analysis engine:
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Zhou,J2630Shankland,S26791–02016D17Millionaire Chess Open 20166.2

GM Emilio Cordova from Peru was another to make Millionaire Monday

Finally Polish GM Dariusz Swiercz was the fourth qualifier from the Open section

It wasn't only about the top Open section. Vanessa Sun (above) has every reason to be grinning ear-to-ear. In the playoff for the Millionaire Monday in the Under-1200 section, she was the one to survive. It means she is guaranteed at least a $900 prize if she comes in 4th place, and a hefty $4800 if she comes first.


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Born in the US, he grew up in Paris, France, where he completed his Baccalaureat, and after college moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He had a peak rating of 2240 FIDE, and was a key designer of Chess Assistant 6. In 2010 he joined the ChessBase family as an editor and writer at ChessBase News. He is also a passionate photographer with work appearing in numerous publications, and the content creator of the YouTube channel, Chess & Tech.

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