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.

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 today. I scored 4.0/6, and became the 1st woman to play USCF rated chess in all 50 US states!
Thanks #chesspunks for… pic.twitter.com/POhHXOIfEB

— Megan (@gauss1181) October 15, 2023

Megan is no stranger to the Chicago chess community, here she is at the US Amateur Team North in February perhaps recovering from her chess tour. She was a guest on Ben Johnson’s Perpetual Chess Podcast a few years ago, and also featured in an article for US Chess. At the time of that writing, Megan had already played in 38 states.

What’s next for Megan Chen…playing a tournament in every country in the world? We are glad that the National Open was part of her 2024 journey, even kind enough to offer her annotations of her first three wins. Travel with Megan on her socials, https://x.com/gauss1181/ Thank you for sharing Megan!

Just as important as the learning game itself is fostering values of etiquette and sportsmanship. Chess is often seen as a solo side-hustle for the eager ego, but this could not be further from the truth. Lessons learned, and skills sharpened towards the next round and well beyond the chessboard.

The Youth Trophy Tournament took place in a single day, with four sections. Jacob Fischer and Simon Nguyen finish as co-champions in the Premier (4.5/5) and Justin Wang was the only perfect score in the Reserve (5.0/5). With a large turnout the Booster and Novice divisions, both sections had three perfect scores emerge, finishing as co-champions. Jerry Zhou, Glen Liu, and Jack Sheng rose to the top in the Booster. In the Novice, our co-champions were represented by Tongtong Ren, Porter Smith, and Shenjone Wu.

Many who played in the Youth Trophy also played in the International Youth Championship, with an age limit of 14. This was a two-day event and featured 6 rounds and four sections, over 400 players competed. Each section produced a single champion in clear first, three of them with a perfect score. Congrats to Tristan Domenico (6.0/6 Under 14), Katherine Zhang (6.0/6, Under 14 Reserve), Grayson Xiang (5.0/6 Under 9) and Ethan Long (6.0/6, Under 9 Reserve)

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.

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, securing a full point lead with two rounds to go. Here is is game vs Chen.

Many other games are still in progress, and a larger write up will follow. Congrats Vasif!

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 early middlegame. Illya was stuggling to find compensation the remainder of the game, and GM Durarbayli to liquidated into a winning endgame.

Norm seeker IM Ryo Chen faced GM Viktor Matviishen with the black pieces in a Kings Indian pressing for a win. There were a couple opportunities in the middle game where his opponent may have been able to take advantage of, but it plays out to a relatively equal double rook and single knight endgame. Matviishen, maintaining a pawn on e7 and tying down all of Chen’s pieces to prevent it from promoting, save one. Chen’s lonely steed breaks away and aims toward the queenside; a misstep allows him to prance away with a pawn. Even with the rooks coming off, Ryo out maneuvers Viktor with precision, galloping away to a victory and into norm contention. Congrats Ryo!

Here is a link to the current standings

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. He will be available in the Savoy (skittles) Foyer 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday and at other times at the Chess Store in Laughlin. Join Srikanth on this quest with a moment of your time while shares with you his vision.  You may have engaged with him already, and he will be in the Savoy Skittles from 11am-2pm.  Thank you!

If you will be here after the National Open you may want to stop by and watch the second half of the 1000GM Las Vegas Norm RRs June 10-14. It will be held in the Savoy Ballroom.

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 went 22-2-1 last year, and added 10 games to his duties this year. Impressively, Ben went 32-2-1, infamously boasting how he did not drop a game to a single game to a man…however…Andra Marinescu enters the chat

GM Finegold clearly had no respect for Andra’s Phony Benoni and managed a solid opening edge lasting into the middle game, landing a passed pawn on e6 hinting at checkmate threats. Ben Poppa thought he could lay on his coattails and let the position win itself. Not so fast…the minute he started to coast and poke Andra’s Queen, to seeming gain time on the board as most of us lesser mortals would, Andra uses this as a moment to gain equality, as she should. (note to self, NEVER EVER upset a queen, on or off the board♕♕♕) After a challenge to the patriarch, Ben’s King and rook are now a bit exposed, and with one final folly, Andra finishes off Ben, with all the glory and the spoils. Game below.

The three draws were from Dan Yates, Rafael Palathingal, and Aaron Green, pictured below. Thank you to Grandmaster Ben Finegold for being our host for the simul another year. It is incredibly taxing to play 36 games let alone 36 moves with this accuracy. Ben has a great sport in all this and we thank you for your time. Follow him on the following socials:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GMBenjaminFinegold
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/itsbenandkaren
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ben_finegold

@MNchess

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

An draw by defending champion GM Illia Nyzhnyk opened the door for 2nd seeded GM Jianchao Zhou to be at the top of the leader board with this surgical win against IM Filip Pancevski fending off any attack White threw at him, GM Poppa with more analysis.

14 year old IM Ryo Chen notches a win against GM Dariusz Swiercz with the Black pieces in a line of the Sicilian that is not commonly seen at the higher levels. We are giving the notorious gangtsa’ a break while analysis is being offered by GM Kayden Troff of Chess

With a 4-0 score, this will likely setup a match against GM Zhou in Round 5 even with his Round 4 draw. Stay Tuned

Photo courtesy of Dylan

Not that Dylan…this Dylan

All Comers Blitz is happening now at the escalators near El Dorado
Follow 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 a strong showing in 2023, going 4-1. This year with starting off 4-0, it was not going to be an easy task with Black, against WFM Badamkhand Norovsambuu, who has been participating in this tournament since 2017 and tying for first in 2022. Avery faced slow and increasing pressure against a Catalan, but Avery took advantage of a open g-file that was opened and WCM Smith surged ahead for a victory.

WFM Olivia Smith was the third 4-0 surpassing her 3.5-1.5 Black against Kaava Sakthisaravan 3.5-0.5. The game was relatively even on both sides throughout the game in a Kings Indian until Oliva made use of an open b-file, and an error was made by Kaava which led to a victory several moves later by WFM Smith.

Avery and Olivia are declared co-champions, but Avery edges out on tiebreakers for the first place trophy. Congrats to both Avery and Oliva, our first Champions of the Las Vegas Chess Festival! Final Standings can be found HERE

This stream has ended, but you can view her Twitch CLICK HERE
Thank you for your stream, Elaynah!

Subscribe and follow Elaynah
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@elaynah
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/elaynah
Insta: https://www.instagram.com/elaynahbb/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/elehnah
TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@elaynahhh

Our fabulous streamers are looking forward to meeting you fabulous fans! 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM in the Virginia Ballroom, here is our Stream Team! Smash that like button and subscribe to them. Also…
@MNchess (Jiten Patel, site contributor) @ChrisBirdIA (Chris Bird, site contributor) and @Vegas_Chess

GM Ben Finegold
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GMBenjaminFinegold
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/itsbenandkaren
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ben_finegold

IM Kostya Kavutskiy (Chess Dojo)
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/hellokostya
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@IMKostyaKavutskiy
Official Site: https://www.hellokostya.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/hellokostya
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/hellokostya
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KostyaKavutskiy/
Blog: www.chess.com/blog/hellokostya

Chess Dojo
Website: Chessdojo.club
Twitter: Twitter.com/ChessDojo
Twitch: Twitch.tv/ChessDojo
YouTube: YouTube.com/chessdojo

Elaynah
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@elaynah
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/elaynah
Insta: https://www.instagram.com/elaynahbb/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/elehnah
TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@elaynahhh

GM Kayden Troff
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/chesssharkz
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chesssharkz/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com@chesssharkz
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@chesssharkz
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChessSharkz

Ben Johnson
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Bennyficial1
Insta: https://www.instagram.com/perpetualchess/
Podcast: www.perpetualchesspod.com

Solomon Ruddell (Chess Giant)
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheChessGiant

Kevin Scull
Twitter: @DoctorScull
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/drskull_tinygrimes

Dylan Quercia
Twitter: https://x.com/coachqchess
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009083379501
Insta: https://www.instagram.com/coachqchess/

Kamryn Hellman (ON SITE)
Kamryn’s socials:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@kamrynheidi
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/kamrynheidi
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/kamrynheidi

Kamryn’s commentators: (NOT ON SITE)
NM Ian Harris (lead commentator, all games)
https://www.redbanditchess.com
https://www.twitter.com/NMIHarris
https://www.twitch.tv/chesscavelive

Omar Mills (Fri 1 pm and Saturday/Sunday)
https://twitter.com/ChessVonDoom
https://www.twitch.tv/chesscavelive

FM Nate Solon (Thu 6:30 pm and Fri 6:30 pm)
https://www.youtube.com/@natesolon
https://twitter.com/natesolon

]]> https://www.vegaschess.com/2024/streamers-meet-and-greet-friday-morning/feed/ 0 https://www.vegaschess.com/2024/where-the-flamingo-am-i/ https://www.vegaschess.com/2024/where-the-flamingo-am-i/#respond Thu, 06 Jun 2024 17:19:58 +0000 https://www.vegaschess.com/?p=4870

PATH 1:

Are you in the Lobby? Great!
Take the Lobby Elevators to Floor 3
Sorry I do not have any elevator hacks…IFYKYK

This will take you to the following:

Keep reading, more useful information

PATH 2

Are you in the Lobby? Great!
Looking for Red Rock and the Youth Tournaments? See the Starbucks? Great!
Keep Walking…PASS the UP Escalators towards the DOWN Escalators (Executive Conference Center)

NOTE: Taking the UP Escalators will also take you to the Third Floor, and easy access the these rooms…it takes you directly to Carson City, per map above

These will take you down to Red Rock, and the assorted rooms!

PATH 3 and beyond:
Well…there very well could be a another way, but this should be enough aid you I believe. Onward!

Hope this helps!

Welcome to the 2024 Las Vegas International Chess Festival!

Welcome everyone! The 2024 Vegas Chess Festival has begun!
Don’t forget to meet your favorite Streamer in our Friday Morning Meet and Greet

LIVE GAMES (When available)
US WOMEN’S Elaynah will be streaming LIVE!
NATIONAL OPEN

Welcome everyone! The 2024 Vegas Chess Festival has begun!
Don’t forget to meet your favorite Streamer in our Friday Morning Meet and Greet

LIVE GAMES (When available)
US WOMEN’S
NATIONAL OPEN

Schedule for Thursday, June 6th: