Things heat up in Vegas

by Johannes Fischer

I like it! | 0 Comments

10/12/2014 – After six rounds six players lead the Millionaire Chess Open with 5.0/6, nine more follow half a point behind, the four best after seven rounds will qualify for the knock-out, one will win 100.000 USD. The seventh round begins Sunday, 11 am Vegas time. Play-offs will follow right after the round, either rapid or blitz. Sounds like fun and excitement.

ChessBase 15 - Mega package

Find the right combination! ChessBase 15 program + new Mega Database 2020 with 8 million games and more than 80,000 master analyses. Plus ChessBase Magazine (DVD + magazine) and CB Premium membership for 1 year!

More...

If the chance to win a lot of money makes you nervous, Las Vegas might not be the right place for you. Unless you prefer thrill to winning. At any rate, in the seventh round of the Millionaire Chess Open in Las Vegas 15 players will have a chance to show how they cope with pressure: the six players leading the field with 5.0/6 and the nine players following with 4.5/6. All of them have a chance to finish among the first four and qualify for the knock-out stage. However, most likely only after some tie-break drama. How exactly the tie-breaks will be played has not been announced yet, but they will definitely be exciting. This is what the regulations say:

"The tiebreaks ... will be a playoffs based on the number of participants trying to qualify. If, for example, three players have already made it to the top four and ten players are vying for the final spot, then most likely a blitz playoff will be used. If, however, only two players are vying for that coveted final spot, then most likely a rapid format will be chosen. The key is that the tiebreaks must end inside of 5 hours, which is the normal length of the round times. The chief Tournament Director will have a pre-planned structure ready for any and all eventualities, and will announce what playoff format will be used approximately an hour before the start of the tie-break round."

The seventh round will begin Sunday, October 12th, 11am, Las Vegas time. You can follow the decisive games and the play-offs on playchess.com.

Standings after six rounds

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.
1	1	GM	SO Wesley	PHI	2755	5.0
	4	GM	YU Yangyi	CHN	2697	5.0
	11	GM	ROBSON Ray	USA	2628	5.0
	12	GM	GAREEV Timur	USA	2612	5.0
	14	GM	NARODITSKY Daniel	USA	2601	5.0
	37	GM	BERCZES David	HUN	2471	5.0
7	2	GM	BU Xiangzhi	CHN	2710	4.5
	5	GM	MAMEDOV Rauf	AZE	2667	4.5
	6	GM	DREEV Aleksey	RUS	2654	4.5
	8	GM	AZAROV Sergei	BLR	2639	4.5
	9	GM	NAJER Evgeniy	RUS	2635	4.5
	17	GM	SADORRA Julio Catalino	PHI	2592	4.5
	19	GM	ZHOU Jianchao	CHN	2580	4.5
	21	GM	RAMIREZ Alejandro	USA	2574	4.5
	23	GM	KAIDANOV Gregory S	USA	2569	4.5
16	10	GM	SHANKLAND Samuel L	USA	2633	4.0
	13	GM	ORTIZ SUAREZ Isan Reynaldo	CUB	2611	4.0
	15	GM	KACHEISHVILI Giorgi	GEO	2597	4.0
	16	GM	GHAEM MAGHAMI Ehsan	IRI	2594	4.0
	18	GM	LENDERMAN Aleksandr	USA	2589	4.0
	22	GM	HOLT Conrad	USA	2571	4.0
	24	GM	KULAOTS Kaido	EST	2564	4.0
	25	GM	BRUNELLO Sabino	ITA	2552	4.0
	29	IM	STOPA Jacek	POL	2515	4.0
	30	IM	PAKLEZA Zbigniew	POL	2509	4.0
	32	GM	SHABALOV Alexander	USA	2499	4.0
	34	IM	CHANDRA Akshat	USA	2488	4.0
	35	IM	KADRIC Denis	BIH	2473	4.0
	38	IM	XIONG Jeffery	USA	2470	4.0
	43	IM	BARTHOLOMEW John	USA	2446	4.0
	44		ABEL Dennes	GER	2446	4.0
	48	IM	MILMAN Lev	USA	2427	4.0
	49	FM	VISWANADHA Kesav	USA	2424	4.0
	62	IM	ZULUAGA Cesar	COL	2344	4.0
	86	IM	KARATOROSSIAN David	ARM	2250	4.0
36	3	GM	LE Quang Liem	VIE	2706	3.5
	7	GM	AKOBIAN Varuzhan	USA	2640	3.5
	20	GM	FELGAER Ruben	ARG	2577	3.5
	26	GM	MARGVELASHVILI Giorgi	GEO	2540	3.5
	27	GM	CHIRILA Ioan-Cristian	ROU	2529	3.5
	28	GM	MATAMOROS FRANCO Carlos S.	ECU	2517	3.5
	33	IM	WAN Yunguo	CHN	2489	3.5
	36	GM	FISHBEIN Alexander	USA	2472	3.5
	41	IM	DROZDOWSKI Kacper	POL	2458	3.5
	42	GM	KRUSH Irina	USA	2457	3.5
	45	IM	KJARTANSSON Gudmundur	ISL	2439	3.5
	46	IM	ALTOUNIAN Levon	USA	2438	3.5
	53	IM	THORFINNSSON Bjorn	ISL	2389	3.5
	55	IM	ARNGRIMSSON Dagur	ISL	2376	3.5
	56	IM	MANDIZHA Farai	ZIM	2367	3.5
	63		SORKIN Igor	ISR	2340	3.5
	64	FM	SCHNEIDER Igor	USA	2338	3.5
	77	FM	GULAMALI Kazim	USA	2271	3.5

...129 players

Complete list

The six leaders

Wesley So

GM Yu Yangyi

GM Ray Robson

GM Timur Gareev

GM Daniel Naroditsky (Photo: Lennart Ootes, Archive)

GM David Berczes (Photo: Stefan64, Wikipedia)

Round Seven - Top Pairings

Bo.	No.		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	FED	Rtg	No.
1	1	GM	SO Wesley	PHI	2755	5		5	GM	GAREEV Timur	USA	2612	12
2	14	GM	NARODITSKY Daniel	USA	2601	5		5	GM	YU Yangyi	CHN	2697	4
3	11	GM	ROBSON Ray	USA	2628	5		5	GM	BERCZES David	HUN	2471	37
4	9	GM	NAJER Evgeniy	RUS	2635	4½		4½	GM	BU Xiangzhi	CHN	2710	2
5	5	GM	MAMEDOV Rauf	AZE	2667	4½		4½	GM	ZHOU Jianchao	CHN	2580	19
6	17	GM	SADORRA Julio Catalino	PHI	2592	4½		4½	GM	DREEV Aleksey	RUS	2654	6
7	21	GM	RAMIREZ Alejandro	USA	2574	4½		4½	GM	AZAROV Sergei	BLR	2639	8
8	16	GM	GHAEM MAGHAMI Ehsan	IRI	2594	4		4½	GM	KAIDANOV Gregory S	USA	2569	23
9	32	GM	SHABALOV Alexander	USA	2499	4		4	GM	SHANKLAND Samuel L	USA	2633	10
10	34	IM	CHANDRA Akshat	USA	2488	4		4	GM	ORTIZ SUAREZ Isan Reynaldo	CUB	2611	13
11	44		ABEL Dennes	GER	2446	4		4	GM	KACHEISHVILI Giorgi	GEO	2597	15
12	18	GM	LENDERMAN Aleksandr	USA	2589	4		4	IM	BARTHOLOMEW John	USA	2446	43
13	22	GM	HOLT Conrad	USA	2571	4		4	IM	KADRIC Denis	BIH	2473	35
14	24	GM	KULAOTS Kaido	EST	2564	4		4	IM	MILMAN Lev	USA	2427	48
15	38	IM	XIONG Jeffery	USA	2470	4		4	GM	BRUNELLO Sabino	ITA	2552	25
16	49	FM	VISWANADHA Kesav	USA	2424	4		4	IM	STOPA Jacek	POL	2515	29
17	30	IM	PAKLEZA Zbigniew	POL	2509	4		4	IM	KARATOROSSIAN David	ARM	2250	86

All pairings...

Pictures: Sabrina Chevannes, Lennart Ootes

Links

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.

Advertising

Books, boards, sets: Chess Niggemann

Johannes Fischer Johannes Fischer was born in 1963 in Hamburg and studied English and German literature in Frankfurt. He now lives as a writer and translator in Nürnberg. He is a FIDE-Master and regularly writes for KARL, a German chess magazine focusing on the links between culture and chess. On his own blog he regularly publishes notes on "Film, Literature and Chess".

Discuss

Rules for reader comments

Still no ChessBase Account? learn more > 8 million games online! Updated weekly, our definitive database has all the latest games. With Live Book and Let’s Check!
Still no ChessBase Account? learn more > My Games – Access your games from everywhere. Store your games, training material and opening repertoire in the cloud. Annotate, analyze and share.
Still no ChessBase Account? learn more > Sac, sac, mate! Solve tactical positions of your playing strength. Boost your calculation skills. Enjoy adrenalin rush with tactic fights!
Still no ChessBase Account? learn more > Thousands of hours of high class video training. Openings, Middlegame, Endgame Lessons. Top authors like Daniel King, Lawrence Trent and Rustam Kasimdzhanov
Still no ChessBase Account? learn more > Real Fun against a Chess Program! Play, analyze and train online against Fritz. Beginner, club and master levels. Assisted play and calculation training.
Still no ChessBase Account? learn more > Learn openings the right way! Build and maintain your repertoire. Memorize it easily move by move by playing against the variation trainer.
Still no ChessBase Account? learn more > The ultimate chess experience every day, PlayChess.com welcomes 20,000 chess players from all around the world – from beginner to grandmaster.

Pop-up for detailed settings

SHOP