Things heat up in Vegas

by Johannes Fischer
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.
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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.

 

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".

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