Millionaire Chess: The fortunate four

Although a nine-round swiss open on paper, four players will have a slightly different experience as they qualify for a vicious knockout phase after seven rounds to fight over the opulent awards of ‘Millionaire Monday’ as described by the organizers. For the players who fail to make the cut, the competition will play out for two more rounds allowing them a full nine rounds and chances for norms.

The production values have been top notch

WIM Arianne Caoili and GM Robert Hess have provided color commentary with...

...IM Lawrence Trent adding expert commentary and computer analysis.

Round seven saw a large number of players with realistic chances, and promised a more vicious feeding frenzy than usual for such events. Six players stood at 5.0/6 including the top seed Wesley So (2755) and Chinese Yu Yangyi, who was the star of the Chinese team that took gold at Tromso a couple of months ago. Three Americans also shared the leaderboard: Ray Robson, Timur Gareev, and Daniel Naroditsky, accompanied by Hungarian GM David Berczes, the only player rated under 2500. In fact, he is the only player in the top 25 rated under 2550, which should give an idea on just how tough the competition has been. Nine more stood at 4.5/6 with reasonable chances of their own.

Players from all around came to play in the rich event

The royal section prizes meant everyone had a realistic chance at a generous paycheck

16-year-old FM Justus Williams is hoping to follow in GM Maurice Ashley's footsteps

Dressing like a grandmaster

Of the top scorers, 22-year-old Wesley So beat Timur Gareev with black, while 20-year-old Ray Robson defeated David Berczes, thus ensuring they would be in the qualifiers. This left two spots open and at the end of the day, four players were left tied with 5.5/7, leading to a rapid games tiebreak played at 15 minutes a game.

Wesley So qualified outright by beating...

...GM Timur Gareev in round seven

The four were Yu Yangyi, an overwhelming favorite by virtue of his rating and strength, Daniel Naroditsky, Belarus Sergei Azarov, and Zhou Jiangchao from China. With only three rounds to be played, it means some players would have two blacks, while others would have two whites, though at such a time control, trying to make full use of the color advantage is usually harder and it is safe to say it was not as heavy a factor as might be otherwise.

GM Yu Yangyi will be one of the favorites in the final Knock-Out phase entitled 'Millionaire Monday'

After two hours of enthralling competition followed by spectators live on video from the site’s Live feed or on Playchess (or both), both Chinese players emerged victorious, leaving a heartbroken Naroditsky and Azarov to see their chances snatched away.

Standings after seven rounds

Click for complete standings

Photos by Lennart Ootes

Links Official tournament site All Open games in PGN All tiebreak games in PGN The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.