$3,600 Prize Fund + Walter Shawn Browne Cup We honor the memory of our friend, GM Walter Browne, by naming the National Open Blitz Championship after him. Walter started the World Blitz Chess Association (WBCA) and always seemed to be in time trouble. His flag has fallen, but he will always be a champion to […]
GM Robby Kevlishvili attempts to take down the leader with a Sicilian Kalashnikov against Matviishen, managing to walk away with a draw. With draws on Board 2 and 3, the streak was brought to an end with GM Bilych on the White side of a Classical Ruy, initially at least. After a few deviations from […]
A special thanks to International Master Kostya Kavutskiy for providing coverage during the 2025 National Open. Click here for our live stream For the second year in a row, we are pleased to have Boston Mike to take on all comers in Blitz. You can find him outside El Dorado. Here is where you can […]
Congrats to our first winner of the National Open, WFM Rachael Li. Rachel won her first four games and draws in the final round, securing a share of first and letting tiebreaks determine who will win out. A longtime competitor of the Womens Open, WFM Tsogtsaikhan Saikhanchimeg drew in Round 4 and needed a win […]
After 5 rounds of play in the National Open Championship, GM Viktor Matviishen, leads they way as the only player on 4.5 points. He’s closely followed by eight players just a half-point behind on 4 points. You can view the current standings here: https://www.vegaschess.com/live/results/ In round 5, GM Matviishen played a very interesting game against […]
There is a promotion for the first 50 players who spend $100 at the bookstore will receive a gift card ranging from $5 to $100 at https://www.chessset.com/ From 12:00pm – 1:30pm on Friday, Susan Polgar will be live at the bookstore, signing copies of her new book Rebel Queen. From 1:30pm – 3:00pm Dewain Barber […]
If you are in the U2300, U2100, and U1900 3-day Schedule, all your rounds today will be in Sunset. Please arrive promptly and quietly, as games will be in progress If you are in the U1700, U1500, U1250 3-day Schedule, Rounds 1 and 2 are in Virginia, Round 3 in SunsetJust came in and not […]
Round 1 of the National Open has begun. 2024 US Senior Champion Vladimir Akopian aims for another National title as he defeats 2024 US Girls Champion qualifier WIM Omya Vidyarthi. The 2024 US National Championships took place last July at the Saint Louis Chess Club. Omya opens with Nf3, and Akopian was Reti for it. […]
Is there a best path? It depends on where you are, where you need to go, and how crowded it is. No, I do not know any secret elevator hacks to help it read your card better…your chances are better at the slots. A bit lost on where to go? Need a bit of help? […]
Welcome to the 2025 Las Vegas International Chess Festival! 🦩🦩 Welcome everyone! The 2025 Vegas Chess Festival starts off with the US Women’s Open. LIVE GAMES (When available)US WOMEN’S NATIONAL OPEN Don’t forget to meet your favorite Streamer in our Friday Morning Meet and Greet Schedule of Events for Wednesday, June 4th
At the National Open, there are several free lectures you will be able to attend, two of them will be led by an individual with nearly 40 years of directing, National Tournament Director Tim Just. Tim Just has been directing since the late 1980’s. Along the way he has achieved the NTD title along with […]
Getting ready for the National Open? So are we! Prepping to sell at a HUGE tournament like this is no easy undertaking. What I am excited about is the SilverBack Chess Clock for sale to the public and being able to show everyone the prototypes for the EZ Notate system. The SilverBack will revolutionize the […]
Sure, many of you are familiar with the Zoom Boom of 2020, but how many of you remember The Brady’s? Soon, you will all get to know the Streamer Bunch. We are proud to announce our streamer panel for the 2025 National Open! More details will follow, so stay tuned. How many can you recognize? […]
The next cutoff will be April 30th, so register for the National Open and save! GMs Ben Finegold and Kayden Troff will return, and we will be graced with a signing from GM Susan Polgar and her new book Rebel Queen: The Cold War, Misogyny, and the Making of a Grandmaster. More to come! Don’t […]
You may have heard of the Knights Tour problem in chess, but about 8 months ago in October 2023, Chicagoan Megan Chen completed a tour of her own. Today was a historic day for my #chess life. I wrapped up the 50 states quest in Alaska, with Fairbanks Chess Club's #NationalChessDay G/15 d5 rapid event […]
Photos courtesy of Lennart Ootes, https://x.com/LennartOotes, https://www.lennartootes.com/ While norm seekers and GM’s are battling it out in the National Open, several hundred youth were putting up their own fight in the International Youth and Youth Trophy championships at the Flamingo as well. Just as important as the learning game itself is fostering values of etiquette […]
FM Eugene Yanayt is the 2024 Vegas Chess Festival Poker Champion. In addition to the coveted Chess Festival Poker Bracelet Eugene won $1,450 in cash.
Photo courtesy of Lennart Ootes, https://x.com/LennartOotes, https://www.lennartootes.com/ After an early Round 2 draw against IM Matias Perez Gormaz in a French Advance gridlock, Vasif wins the next five games, including one against last years defending champion Illya Nyzhnyk, and norm seeker Ryo Chen. These pair of wins allow Vasif to climb up the leader board, […]
We are heading into the last day, and through 7 grueling rounds, GM Vasif Durarbayli is a full point ahead of the field (6.5/7) with one round to go after defeating defending champion GM Illya Nyzhnyk. Vasif faced a Najdorf that transposed into a Scheveningen in the opening and picks up a pawn in the […]
For the past couple of years, we have worked with 1000GM to bring more FIDE Norm tournaments to Las Vegas. Founder Srikanth Bangalore has a mission to help kids begin their chess journey as early as Kindergarten. You can join Srikanth on this quest with a moment of your time and possibly a small donation. […]
Regardless of how strong you are, playing a single game is taxing enough, let alone over 36 at the same time. We are thankful for GM Ben Finegold for putting on quite a display. After the simul, Ben mentioned how exhausted he was and how much concentration it took to play. Chess is hard. Ben […]
Boston Mike will be taking on all comers in Blitz outside of El Dorado from ages 5 to 155 until 1pm todayBoston Mike will also be signing autographs after joining Ben Johnson on the Perpetual Chess podcast in the Chess StoreFollow Mike at Coffee Chess on YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/@CoffeeChess For the past couple of years, we have […]
Photo courtesy of Tim Hanks Congrats to FM Rose Atwell, who picked up a WIM norm in the 1000GM Tournament that took place this past week at the Flamingo. She picks up where she left off, with win vs IM Mark Heimann and this draw against GM Neuris Delgado, analysis provided by GM Ben Poppa […]
Photo courtesy of Dylan Not that Dylan…this Dylan All Comers Blitz is happening now at the escalators near El DoradoFollow on Twitch courtesy of Elaynah
An exciting finish as we conclude the US Womens Championship! While last year we ended up with a solo first place finish, we had another year where several people were tied going into the last round, much like the previous two years. WCM Avery Yu, a top ranked female under the age of 14 had […]
Thank you!The National Open and the U.S. Women’s Open are co-sponsored by the U.S. Chess Federation.
The National Open is paired with Swisssys by ChessRoster. 
