If you have any questions you may use our contact form.

If you won more than $599 you must fill out a w-9 form and email it to vegaschess@gmail.com or mail it to Vegas Chess Festivals, PO Box 90925, Henderson NV 89009.

Unclaimed trophies will be available for pickup in Las Vegas after somewhat later than originally expected because the trophies were inadvertently packed up and put in storage. If you want your trophy shipped send an email to vegaschess@gmail.com with the subject “Please ship Trophy for [name]” and we will ship it and invoice you for the actual cost. We will notify winners of unclaimed trophies when they are available.

Enjoy the action of our No Limit Hold’em Tournament. This is a private tournament for participants and guests of our Chess Festival. Play for cash and a commemorative bracelet any poker player would be proud to wear. Knock out any member of our staff for a $25 bounty.

Location

• Westgate Poker Room

Format

• No-Limit Tournament
• $10,000 Starting Chips
• Blinds start at 100/100 and increase every 20 minutes.
  • Structure sheet to be posted soon.
• Details Subject to Change.

Registration

• Late Registration and re-entries are available until the end of first break.
• You must have a Westgate Rewards Card. You can sign up at the Rewards Desk near the Poker Room.

Entry Fee

• $130 in cash or Westgate chips only
• Includes $5 dealer bonus.

Prizes

• Cash Prizes $100 of each entry/re-entry goes to prize fund
  
  • See structure sheet for payouts
• Commemorative Bracelet for the Winner.
• $25 bounty on Festival staff members.
• Deals are not permitted.

We are now taking entries for the 2024 Las Vegas International Chess Festival. The Early Bird Discount for returning players will be valid through January. Enter now!

Reserve your room early to qualify for the free room lottery. The earlier you reserve, the more virtual tickets you receive.

GM Ben Finegold and IM Eric Rosen will both give simuls on Thursday afternoon. If you have already signed up for the simul you will be assigned to one or the other.

We can honor change requests on our contact page unless the desired simul is full. At that point you would be put on a waiting list.

Ben Finegold is an American grandmaster, teacher, and streamer. Known for teaching kids and having a unique brand of humor, he is part of a three-generation chess family; his father Ronald, brother Mark, and son Spencer all became master-level players as well. After earning his IM title in 1989, Finegold saw his FIDE rating near 2600 at times, but it was not until 2009, at the age of 40, that he earned his final norm to become a grandmaster. Finegold is also a two-time National Open Champion, finishing tied for 1st in both 2005 and 2008.

After lecturing at the Saint Louis Chess Club for several years, Finegold opened the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Atlanta in 2017. Finegold is also a Chess.com-partnered streamer on Twitch, often going online seven days a week. His streams include tournaments such as Arena Kings, games with viewers, and analyses of games, from those of past masters to viewer-submitted contests of their own. Countless hours of Finegold’s lectures and streams can be found on YouTube.

GM Finegold will give a Simul at 2 p.m. on Thursday, June 15th. If there is enough interest a second simul will be announced. Please visit our Registration Page to register for this event.

If you have any problems with our new payment processor or any other problems with entry please contact us.

Our room block at the Westgate is sold out.

All the rooms that the Westgate was holding for our group have been sold. We have arranged chess rates at nearby hotels.

UPDATE May 18 2022

The Sahara has sold out of our overflow block. They still have a few rooms at non-chess rates. BOOK

Circus Circus and the non-strip hotels are still honoring our rate but today is the official cutoff date. The non-strip hotels are still offering reasonably priced rooms even without the chess rate.

We have reserved overflow rooms at the following hotels:

The iconic Sahara Hotel & Casino is walking distance for some, and only one stop away on the Las Vegas Monorail. Room rates are $69 weekdays and $209 Friday & Saturday. A 5 day monorail pass is $43. Players who bring the monorail receipt and Sahara reservation receipt to chess control will receive a 50% rebate on the monorail pass.
BOOK NOW!

Circus Circus is offering Chess Players a fantastic rate or $32 weekdays and $105 Friday & Saturday. They are about a mile walk door-to-door from the Westgate. Parking is free at Westgate and Circus Circus; ride share is also convenient. BOOK NOW!

For those who prefer a non-smoking, non-casino hotel and don’t mind a short drive, Hampton Inn Tropicana is offering a $106 room rate with no resort fees. Complimentary breakfast, free parking and free WIFI might make up the cost of a rental car. BOOK NOW!

The Rio All Suites Hotel & Casino is also offering a discount to Chess Players. Staying at the Rio would require a car or ride share. The Rio has been the site of past and future tournaments by Vegas Chess Festivals. BOOK NOW!

All rates quoted are exclusive of Hotel Tax and Resort Fees.

You may be able to reserve rooms at at higher rates for some of the nights at the Westgate by calling  (800) 732-7117.

The Las Vegas Monorail is offering Las Vegas Chess Festival attendees exclusive fare discounts. Use the Monorail to travel the Strip and to the tournament without the hassles of traffic and wasted time. Be sure to purchase your tickets before the festival as the discounts are available for a limited time! 

Buy your discounted tickets at tix.lvmonorail.com/VCF22

Touchless Ticketing! Download your ticket directly to your mobile wallet and your phone becomes your ticket to ride! In minutes, Monorail riders can travel the Las Vegas Strip in a safe, clean, and climate-controlled environment.   

Let the Las Vegas Monorail be your Transportation Solution! The Las Vegas Monorail provides a quick and reliable transportation alternative for leisure and business travelers on the Las Vegas Strip. Directly connected to several resort hotels as well as the Las Vegas Convention Center, the Monorail is the most convenient way to get around the Strip in just minutes. Buy your discounted tickets at  tix.lvmonorail.com/VCF22.

The drawing was held this morning and the winner is L. F. of Franklin Tennessee. L.F.’s stay at the Las Vegas Chess Festival is on us.

The recording of the drawing is here.

We will be holding two Town Hall Meetings where players and parents new to tournament chess or new to our event can have their questions answered. These meetings are open to players, parents, and coaches who have registered or wish to learn more before registering.

Recordings of the meetings will be posted here for players who cannot attend.

Zoom links will be posted here when available.

• Wednesday June 9th at 4:30 p.m. PDT Meeting Recording:
  • vegaschessfestival.com/town-hall-recording-1

• Sunday June 13th at 1:00 p.m. PDT
  • This meeting was not recorded

During the meeting we will take questions by zoom chat. If you use the “raise hand” button on your zoom app we will recognize as many questions as possible.

Nevada is relaxing (but not eliminating) restrictions, and we are confident that we can return to over the board chess with the Chess Event of the Year.

We have delayed accepting entries until we were (nearly) certain that we could proceed. Players who have carried their entries over from previous events will be added to the entry list manually so please be patient as we are doing this one at a time.

]]> https://www.vegaschess.com/2021/over-the-board-chess-returns/feed/ 7 https://www.vegaschess.com/2020/national-open-rescheduled/ https://www.vegaschess.com/2020/national-open-rescheduled/#comments Sat, 23 May 2020 19:45:14 +0000 https://www.vegaschess.com/?p=3323 September 16-20, 17-20, 18-20 or 19-20 NEW WEBSITE

CANCELLED

We were not able to reschedule all of the side events or any of the Youth events but the Las Vegas International Chess Festival will be back in June of 2021.

We regret to announce that we must cancel the Las Vegas International Chess Festival scheduled for June 24-28, 2020. The most optimistic opening date for the host hotel is less than a week before our scheduled start, and we cannot be sure that date will be met.

We are hoping to reschedule the event in fall. Next year’s event, June 16-20, 2021, will have an increased prize fund.

Hotel reservations made through our link or with our group code will be refunded automatically. Please do not try to contact the hotel unless you do not hear from them within a few weeks.

Advance entries will be applied to the rescheduled event or to next year’s event and protected from price increases. Details will be sent by email and posted here within a few weeks.

Alan & Janelle Losoff

]]> https://www.vegaschess.com/2020/2020-chess-festival-cancelled/feed/ 9 https://www.vegaschess.com/2020/vegas-chess-festivals-coronavirus-response/ https://www.vegaschess.com/2020/vegas-chess-festivals-coronavirus-response/#comments Mon, 23 Mar 2020 20:33:48 +0000 https://www.vegaschess.com/?p=3274 We have received several inquiries as to whether the National Open and the Chess Festival will be canceled.  The short answer is we don’t know. What we do know is

1. We intend to hold the event as planned if it is at all possible and, more importantly, if it is safe to do so.
2. We hope to be able to make a firm decision before May 1. Until that time the $20 cancellation fee will still apply.
3. The early entry fee deadline is extended to May 31st.
4. Other organizers have switched their guaranteed prize funds to based-on prizes. At this time we are hoping to avoid that but we will announce any changes here.
5. Soon there will be an option for a discounted non-refundable entry fee, which will be carried over to next year (June 16-20, 2021), if we or the player must cancel this year.  We will also offer partial refunds to players already entered who wish to receive this discount.  Advance entry is suspended at until April 7.

Nevada Governor Sisolak has ordered all casinos and non-essential businesses closed until April 30th.  The Westgate Resort has cancelled all events through April 30th and hopes to reopen at that time. If that happens, it is likely that we will be able to proceed as planned.

We thank you for your continued support and ask you to bear
with us in these trying times. Your support will help us to continue this great
event for many years to come.

Alan & Janelle Losoff, Tournament Organizers

It’s never to early to plan for the Chess Vacation of the Year! Once again we are offering a drawing with great prizes for early entries to the National Open and the International Youth Championship, and everyone who reserves a room with our group code will also be entered into a drawing for a free room. The earlier you enter the more chances you have to win.

The National Open as a Norm Event with 2 other FIDE rated sections was very popular, and will be repeated next year. The round times have been adjusted slightly as a result of player feedback

The International Youth Championship will be restricted to players rated below 1800 and the Youth Trophy Tournament will have an additional section for players rated below 500.

The US Women’s Open moves back to Wednesday & Thursday.

Watch this space for more.

Congratulations to Illia Nyzhnyk, the winner of the National Open, and to all the winners of other events in the Chess Festival. We hope that every player goes home feeling like a winner.

Final Standings are available on our Results Page, and hundreds of photos are on our Facebook Page.

Unclaimed prize checks were mailed to the address provided with registration.

Unclaimed trophies can be shipped or picked up at the Las Vegas Chess Center. Use our contact form to make arrangements. After July 1 unclaimed trophies will be donated.

Plus score certificates were only available on site. If you did not get to use yours, you may use it for mail order purchases as described here.

Once again, thank you to all who participated.

Alan & Janelle Losoff, Tournament Organizers

]]> https://www.vegaschess.com/2019/thank-you-for-participating-in-the-las-vegas-chess-festival/feed/ 0 https://www.vegaschess.com/2019/drawing-today/ https://www.vegaschess.com/2019/drawing-today/#respond Fri, 31 May 2019 08:51:11 +0000 https://www.vegaschess.com/?p=2728 The Drawing was held and the winner was the holder of ticket 6327. The guest with initials W C who made the reservation on January 30th for 6/12 through 6/17 on will have the room paid for by the festival.  Congratulations!  WC will be notified by email.

The drawing for the Free Hotel Room will be held tonight at 6:00 p.m. PDT at the Las Vegas Chess Center.  We expect to live stream on Facebook.

Everyone who reserved a room in our group by May 23rd is in the drawing. You received one ticket every day until May 23, so the first person to reserve a room back in October has 221 tickets while everyone who waited until the last day gets 1 ticket.

We  were going to make actual tickets and put them in a barrel as pictured above but with a total of over 20,000 tickets we decided to do the drawing electronically.  The list of guests and their ticket numbers is posted HERE.  Only initials are shown for privacy reasons but it should not be hard to find your ticket numbers.

There are 21,915 virtual tickets so will use Random.org to generate a number between 1 and 21,915  and that will be the winning ticket. The winner will be notified by email or phone. The number picker shown here will be used for the drawing at 6:00 p.m. PDT.

Good Luck!

Extra discounts are also available for returning players who enter before the end of January. We call this the Early Bird Loyalty Discount.  In addition, All players will be automatically entered into a drawing with great prizes and more chances to win the earlier you enter.

We are also repeating the free hotel room lottery with the same rules as last year.

Players expecting prize checks $600 or larger must submit a W-9.  You can download the form from the IRS at www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw9.pdf and mail the completed form to PO Box 90925 Henderson NV 89002. You may also email it to contactvegaschessfestival.com .

Youth Event Trophies which were not claimed will be held for 2 weeks and  shipped at cost on request.

To redeem your certificates at Chess4Less.com go to their web site and pick out the items you want.  Email chess4lessgmail.com  with your name, certificate number(s) and the item(s) you want and he will get back to you.

To redeem at Rochester Chess Center check out in the normal manner but put the following in the comments field “National Open certificate number 2018-nnn-n $25”  or  “National Open certificate number 2018-nnn-1, 2018-nnn-2,  $50”.  You will only be charged the price difference if any.

Plus score certificates can only be used by the player who won them and will not be redeemed after July 15, 2018.

Watch the games Live.

The current U.S. Women’s Champion, Sabina Foisor, has won  medals at the European Youth Chess Championships in various age categories. Her result at 2007 European Women’s Championship qualified her for the Women’s World Chess Championship 2008 in Nalchik, Russia.

Both her parents are International Masters and were multiple Romanian chess championship medalists. Sabina learned to play chess at the age of 4 and entered her first tournament at the age of 6. Aside from playing chess professionally, she gives chess lessons to players of all levels. She has been an instructor at our Grandmaster Chess Camp.

Sabina  moved to the United States in 2008 to study at the University of Maryland.  She has represented the United States on the USA’s Women Chess Olympic Team at four consecutive Olympiads and three Women’s World Team Championships.

In addition to hosting the youth championship Sabina will give a simul for young players at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday.  She will also participate in the opening ceremony and an autograph session.

1965 National Open Results

Sammy Reshevsky is awarded his trophy by Mark Swain of the Stardust Hotel. Ed Edmondson and George Koltanowski watch.

Celebrate the National Open’s 50th Anniversary with us at the Las Vegas International Chess Festival. In addition to the usual great tournaments and activities we have a few surprises in store. Watch this space.

If you played in the first National Open at the Stardust in 1965 we want to invite you to play this year as our guest. Use the contact form to let us know who you are. If you know someone who played please let them know.