মজার খেলা দাবা

সাদা কালো দু' দল নিয়ে 

যুদ্ধ করাই দাবা খেলা,

চৌষট্টি ঘরের উপর 

বত্রিশটি ঘুঁটির মেলা।
রাজা-মন্ত্রী-সেপাই নিয়ে
দুই দাবাড়ু যুদ্ধে নামে,
বিপক্ষকে মারার আশায়
ঘুঁটি চালায় ডানে বামে।

সৈন্য শুধু যায় এগিয়ে
দুই কোণে দুই ঘর দখলে,
হাতি মশাই শান্ত বিশেষ
কোণাকুণি শুধুই চলে।
লাফিয়ে লাফিয়ে এগিয়ে গিয়ে
ঘোড়ার চাল আড়াই,
সোজা বাঁকা দুই-ই চলে
এই মন্ত্রীর বড়াই।

চারিদিকে এক ঘর যায়
দাবা বোর্ডের রাজা,
তার নির্দেশ মাথায় নিয়ে
নৌকো চলে সোজা।

হরেক রকম ঘুঁটির মাঝে
দুই রাজাই দূর্গ গড়ে,
একের পর এক আক্রমণে
কেউবা জেতে কেউবা মরে।
ষোলো ঘুটি সামাল দিয়ে
যে খেলবে ঠান্ডা মাথায়,
বুদ্ধিটাকে পুঁজি করে
জিতে যাবে দাবা খেলায়।

Written by Ashik Uzzaman at 1990 at the age of 15.

Fritz and the Comeback by Gabirel Adams

As part of an initiative for Rickshaw Girl movie, I got introduced to Producer Eric J Adams. Recently in an email conversation knowing my passion for chess, he mentioned that his son Gabriel Adams produced a short film on a homeless chess master on his comeback to chess after 20 years. Gabriel actually arranged this man to play in this competitive tournament chess at Concord Open 2013 (if I remember correctly, I and my son Ahyan also played that same tournament) and made this film based on his comeback. While watching this you will get some food for thought on how a chess master thinks, be he/she a millionaire or a homeless, about life! I could feel his soul myself, his spoken and unspoken words. Thank you Gabriel for everything you did for Fritz, and thus indirectly, to all passionate chess lovers.

Fritz and the Comeback from Gabriel Adams on Vimeo.

I checked with the Director of Mechanics Chess Institute IM John Donaldson about Fritz. He is one of the most knowledgable chess historians of our time. He sent me 2 links where it was widely covered during that 2013 tournament time.

Fritz and the Comeback - 19 Minute Short World Premiers at Petaluma's Aqus Cafe at Foundry Wharf, December 30th from 7pm

A Chess Master's Return

My Article on Radio Bangla NY Newspaper about Current State of Chess in Bangladesh

https://www.rbnews24.com/news/3933/news-details

দেশের দাবার বর্তমান অবস্থা

অফিসে প্রোজেক্টের মাঝখানে হঠাৎ করে ১০ দিনের একটা ফাঁক পেয়ে বাংলাদেশে ঘুরে আসলাম গত মাসে। দীর্ঘদিন দেশে দাবাখেলেছি আমেরিকা আসার আগে। তাই দেশে যাবার কথা মনে হলেই বাবা-মা, ভাই-বোন, আত্মীয়-স্বজন, বন্ধু-বান্ধবের কথা যেমন মনে পরে, তেমনি মনে পরে আমার দাবার সহ-খেলোয়াড়দের কথা। ৯০এর দশকের মাঝামাঝি ঢাকা ইউনিভার্সিটি থেকে ক্লাস শেষ করে বিকেলে জাতীয় ক্রীড়া পরিষদের দাবা ফেডারেশনে চলে যেতাম খেলতে। সারা সন্ধ্যা এমনকি রাত দশটা পর্যন্ত খেলে উল্টো দিকের চায়ের দোকানে বসে পুরি ভাগ করে খেতে খেতে বোর্ড গুটির অভাবে মুখে মুখে খেলে ফেলতাম দুই একটা গেম। যেই বয়সে বন্ধুরা মেয়েদের সাথে ডেটিং করে বেড়াতো, সেই বয়সে আমরা ৬৪ ঘরের বোর্ডে মুখ বুজে বিস্ময়ে অভিভূত হয়ে চেয়ে রাইতাম ববি ফিশার অথবা কাপাব্লাঙ্কার একটা তাক লাগানো চাল দেখে!

আমি দেশে রওনা হবার দুই দিন আগে গোল্ডেন স্পোর্টিং ক্লাবের আমির আলী রানা ভাই ফেসবুকে নক করলেন - "শুনলাম ঢাকা আসছেন? আপনি তো আসলে একটা টুর্নামেন্ট দেন, এবার করবেন না?" টুর্নামেন্ট স্পনসর করার ইচ্ছে ছিল কিন্তু সময়ের অভাবে ঢাকায় যোগাযোগ করে রাখতে পারিনি আগে। তাই রানা ভাই যখন বললেন উনি আয়োজনের সব ব্যবস্থা করবেন, আমার শুধু একটা স্পন্সরের নাম আর টাকাটা জোগাড় করতে হবে, আমি সানন্দে রাজি হয়ে গেলাম। আমার দীর্ঘ দিনের দাবা বন্ধু শাকিল আর পরাগের সাথেও কথা বলে নিলাম।রানা ভাই ম্যাজিসিয়ানের মতো অল্প সময়ে সবআয়োজন করে ফেললেন। দাবা ফেডারেশনে খেলা হবে দুই দিন সকালে। চিফ গেস্ট গ্রান্ড মাস্টার জিয়াউর রহমান এবং আন্তর্জাতিক মহিলা মাস্টার রানী হামিদ। আমার ভাই রাশেদুজ্জামানের ব্র্যান্ড প্রমোশন কোম্পানি রেকট্যাংগল বিডি এর নাম অনুযায়ী এর নাম রাখা হলো রেকট্যাংগল রেপিড চেস টুর্নামেন্ট।

টুর্নামেন্টের উদ্বোধন হলো ৮ই মে দাবা ফেডারেশনে। ঐদিন চার রাউন্ড খেলা আর পরদিন ৩ রাউন্ড, সাথে আবার পুরস্কার বিতরণী অনুষ্ঠান। তাইবুর রহমান সুমন ভাই চ্যাম্পিয়ন হলেন আর জিয়া ভাই রানার আপ। কাকতালীয় ভাবে একই সময়ে শিপলু (ফিদে মাস্টার এবং আমার পুরোনো বন্ধু) অস্ট্রেলিয়া থেকে কিছুদিনের জন্য ঢাকা এসেছে। ফেসবুকের কল্যানে ও জানতে পারলো আমি ঢাকায়। সেও আমাদের সাথে জয়েন করলো টুর্নামেন্ট এর দ্বিতীয় দিন।ফেডারেশনে পুরোনো অনেক খেলোয়াড়কে পেয়ে গেলাম। রানী আপা এই বয়সেও শিশুর মতো আগ্রহ নিয়ে গুটি চালছেন। শুধু তাই না উনি এবছরেও ন্যাশনাল ওমেন্স চ্যাম্পিয়ন হয়ে আরেকটা রেকর্ড করলেন মাত্র কয়দিন আগে। জিয়া ভাই আগের মতোই খেলা চালিয়ে যাচ্ছেন দেশে আর বাইরে। জিয়া ভাই, সুমন ভাই, শিপলু, শাকিল আর পরাগ একটা গেমের পোস্ট মর্টেম করছে। আর ইন্টারন্যাশনাল আরবিটার হারুন ভাই আগের মতোই বলে উঠছেন, "শব্দ করা যাবে না, পাশের রুমে খেলা চলছে।"

তবে সবার কাছ থেকেই জানতে পারলাম দেশের দাবা অঙ্গন হুমড়ি খেয়ে পরে আছে। রানা ভাই চেষ্টা করে যাচ্ছেন কিন্তু ফেডারেশনের আরো টুর্নামেন্ট আয়োজন করা দরকার। যথেষ্ট টুর্নামেন্ট না থাকায় ভালো খেলোয়াড় বেরিয়ে আসছে না। তরুণ খেলোয়াড়েরা উৎসাহ হারিয়ে ফেলছে আর পুরোনো খেলোয়াড়েরা হতাশ। ফেডারেশন বছরে হাতে গোনা কয়টা ন্যাশনাল চ্যাম্পিয়নশিপ, প্রিমিয়ার ডিভিশন লীগ টুর্নামেন্ট করেই খালাস। রাজিব-রাকিবের পর অনেকগুলো বছর আমরা কোনো গ্রান্ড মাস্টার পাই নি। দুই তরুণ আন্তর্জাতিক মাস্টার সাগর আর শাকিল চেষ্টা করে যাচ্ছে কিন্তু যদি বছরে ২টা গ্রান্ড মাস্টার টুর্নামেন্ট করা যেত তবে হয়তো অনেকের জন্যই কাজটা আর অসম্বভ হয়ে থাকতো না। কিশোর ফিদে মাস্টার ফাহাদ রহমান এর মাঝেই উঠে আসছে, কিন্তু তার প্রথমে ইন্টারন্যাশনাল মাস্টার টাইটেল জিততে হবে। ফিদে মাস্টার কায়েস ভাই কিছুদিন আগে চলে গেলেন কানাডা। আরো অনেক খেলোয়াড় বিদেশ পাড়ি দিয়েছেন আগেই।

দেশে স্পনসর করার মতো বিত্তশালী লোকের অভাব নেই, কিন্তু তারা সবাই ক্রিকেটে টাকা দিচ্ছে, ব্র্যান্ড মার্কেটিং এ সুবিধা হয়। কিন্তু অন্য খেলা গুলো ও তো বাঁচিয়ে রাখতে হবে। মাসে একটা দাবার রেটিং টুর্নামেন্ট করা যে অনেক খরচের ব্যাপার তাও তো না। খেলোয়াড়রা নিজস্ব খরচে যতটুকু সম্ভব করে যাচ্ছে। আমার এখানে আমেরিকার কথা বাদ ই দিলাম, পাশের দেশ ইন্ডিয়া তে কর্পোরেট স্পনসর আর সরকারের সহযোগিতায় অনেক অনেক ভালো খেলোয়াড় প্রতিদিন বেরিয়ে আসছে। অথচ উপমহাদেশের প্রথম গ্রান্ড মাস্টার কিন্তু ভারতের প্রাক্তন বিশ্ব চ্যাম্পিয়ন বিশ্বনাথন আনন্দ নয়, বরং আমাদের গ্রান্ড মাস্টার নিয়াজ মোর্শেদ। খুব বেশি দাবাখেলোয়াড় বাংলাদেশে স্বচ্ছল বেবসা বাণিজ্য করছে এমন শুনি না।

যেই অল্প কয়েকজন আছেন, তা যথেষ্ট নয়। এইজন্য এগিয়ে আসতে হবে আমাদের সকল প্রাক্তন দাবা খেলোয়াড় এবং দাবানুরাগীদের। সাথে দরকার কর্পোরেট এবং সরকারী পৃষ্ঠপোষকতা। দূরে থেকে আমরা দুই বছরে একটা টুর্নামেন্ট আয়োজন করে কিছু করতে পারব না। টুর্নামেন্ট হতে হবে নিয়মিত। আমি যেই সময়টায় ঢাকায় খেলতাম তখন অবস্থা অনেক ভালো ছিল এখনকার তুলনায়। মাঝের কিছু ফেডারেশন কমিটি দেশের দাবাকে জোর করে ধরে পেছনে নিয়ে গেছে।

কিন্তু হতাশ হয়ে বসে থেকে লাভ নেই। সামনের দিকে আমাদের চোখ তুলে তাকাতে হবে। ক্রিকেট আর ফুটবলের পর দাবাতেই আমরা তুলনামূলক ভাবেশক্তিশালী । পাঠক, আপনারা কি দাবাঙ্গনের উন্নয়নে কোনোভাবে অংশগ্রহন করতে পারেন?

আশিক উজ্জামান,

সিনিয়র সফটওয়্যার ইঞ্জিনিয়ার, রোকু ইনক., সান ফ্রান্সিসকো বে এরিয়া, ক্যালিফোর্নিয়া

Attended the seminar by Garry Kasparov on Future of Artificial Intelligence

Last Thursday (8th June) I attended Garry Kasparov's seminar promoting his latest book Deep Thinking: Where Machine Intelligence Ends and Human Creativity Begins. The event was organized by The Commonwealth Club at Marines' Memorial Theatre, San Francisco. This one hour event started at noon and was moderated by Holly Kernan, VP of news editing of San Francisco Chronicle, followed by a book signing session in stage by Kasparov. The event was sold out and I am fortunate that I purchased the ticket earlier. In this semiar he discussed about Putin's terrible regime in Russia and gave an optimistic view of artificial intelligence assisting human creativity in future.

I ordered the book from Amazon ahead of time and hence was able to get an autograph of Kasparov on this book along with getting the above picture taken by the photographer. It was a great moment for me as I regard him as the strongest chess player of all time. I have studied his games, his biography, his famous series of chess books - My Great Predecessors, his mammoth clashes over the board with another legend Anatoly Karpov. A lot of my love for chess may be sourced from the enthusiasm from this great chess player.

Book signing photos: The book signing Facebook album is here

Video: Watch the Facebook live stream of the event here

XCell Chess Club Runner Up in USAT National 2017 Playoffs

We, XCell Chess Club, became runner up in the United States Amateur Team (USAT) 2017 Championship. We won the semi-final against North by 3-1. I lost in third board with White against Michael Auger rated 2268 (almost 300 more than mine) but all our other boards won. In the other semi-final game, East defeated South by 2.5-1.5 margin. South's first board couldn't play due to a personal emergency and hence they had to play up with 3 boards.

In the final we faced the current champion East. I won my game with Black against Warren Wang rated 2198 (again more than 200 points above mine). Arul and Ashrita lost in fourth and second board respectively. In first board Hayk had better position against Ethan Li but drew in time pressure as the game prolonged. Well, we were very close but couldn't make it. We will have to be happy with the runnner up. But this was a great experience and good team work. Kudos to team manager Tigran and XCell Chess Club owner Eshwaran for arranging everything for us. There is always a next time!




This playoff along with the original west zone team championship is the most significant team competition I have ever played!

ChessGraphs.com - A New Chess Web Site In Town

I got notified by a web developer John McNeil from my blog about a new chess web site he developed. It's ChessGraphs.com . Being a developer and a chess player myself, I was very appreciative of it. What a clean idea! You can see any FIDE rated player's chess rating history in graph for all 3 formats - classical, rapid and blitz - since 1967 till date! You can select single or multiple players and would be able to visually compare their progress year over year. I quickly checked my graph and see that I am stuck just above 1900 for several years now.

I thank John for undertaking such a visually stunning and useful project for chess players.

Fund Raising Quad Held By S.H.A.F and NorCal House of Chess for San Jose Flood Victims

The S.H.A.F Inc., in collaboration with NorCal House of Chess held another successful kids chess quad tournament in NHC premise at Fremont on Saturday, March 26 featuring 36 participants. It is the fourth S.H.A.F chess event and the biggest turnout thus far. Several first-place trophies and medals were handed out as kids battled out in long, tough matches for the first place spot in their respective quads. 

 

The main goal of this fundraising event was to gather resources and donations for the victims of the recent San Jose flooding and underprivileged children in Bangladesh. Gratefully, they received donations of canned foods, warm clothes, and some toys which will be donated to the San Jose flood victims. Overall, it was a wonderful showing of skill and determination of the players, all for a great cause.

21 Days To Supercharge Your Chess by Yury Markushin

I recently bought the training program 21 Days To Supercharge Your Chess by Yury Markushin.

https://www.thechessworld.com/supercharge/

Both me and my son are spending approximately 1 hour each day to go through the book and their web site for theoretical and practical sessions. The recommended allocation of time is -

• Reading the theory = 10 minutes
• Studying masters’ games/ Working on the attacking chess = 20 minutes
• Solving tactics = 20 minutes
• Endgame clinic = 10 minutes

In Day 3, I learnt how to analyze a position. I knew each of those separately but its nice to get it in a bullet point together.

1. Material on the board
2. Presence of Threats
3. Position of the Kings
4. Presence of open files and diagonals
5. Pawn structure, weak and strong squares
6. Center and space
7. Development and Pieces Activity

In Day 9, I learnt how to analyze a chess game.

Opening: Develop Your Pieces

• Was it a home preparation line or you had to diverge from it?
• What other variations of that opening line you have previously played?
• Did the opening lead to the type of position you want to achieve?
• Did you obtain any positional/material advantage out of that opening?
• Overall, whose position was better after the opening?
• Write down the problems you might have faced in the opening (Development of pieces, Space, King safety, Pawn structure etc)

Middlegame: Realize A Plan

• Formulate a plan (Minority attack on the queenside, Taking control of the center, Preparing attack on opponent’s castled king etc)
• What are the tactical and positional possibilities in the position?

Endgame: Count Every Advantage

• Prepare an endgame plan (winning or drawing) to make every little advantage count

Day 13 teaches to always evaluate the most forcing continuations first in complex situations when a lot of calculations need to be done.The order should be checks, then captures and then threats and this will help reducing the number of variations to caculate.

We - XcellCHESS Club - Became USA Amateur Team West Champion 2017

Somehow this happened. We became champion in US Amateur Team West Championship held at Santa Clara Convention Center during February 18th to 20th! Out of 6 rounds, we won first 5 rounds straight and drew the last round. Hayk, Ashrita, Arul and Akshithi - all played wonderfully and delivered at critical moments. I am surprised with my own performance as well. My personal score was 4 win and 1 loss. With this my rating jumped up from 2000 to 2097. So now we will play the winners of other 3 zones - East, North and South  in April 22nd for the title of National Amateur Team Champion!

Below is top 4 standings out of 65 teams. Click here for the full list and here for individual performances. Also here is the event summary from us chess site. I noticed a common pattern that the teams who were well balanced, did better than the top heavy teams (as by nature their 4th board has to be weak). 

GM Christian Chirila wrote a news coverage for US chess on this event titled - Grandmaster Amateurs: XcellChess Prevails in Competitive Team West.

	Code	Name	Score	TBrk[G]	TBrk[U]
1	XCELLC	XcellCHESS Club (2104.5) - Cnt: 5 W41 W17 W20 W10 W9 D3	5.5	17.5	61.25
		NM Hayk Manvelyan (2295) 4.5
		Aksithi Eswaran (1664) 1.0
		WIM Ashritha Eswaran (2252) 3.5
		Ashik Uzzaman (1974) 4.0
		Arul Viswanathan (1897) 4.5
2	BCC-BISH	The Berkeley Bishops (2172.0) - Cnt: 4 W36 W12 W8 D3 W49 W9	5.5	16	53.75
		IM David $m Pruess (2408) 4.0
		NM Bryon Doyle (2203) 4.0
		Michael Lei Wang (2177) 4.5
		Michael Anderson (1900) 3.5
3	BCWEEK	The Berkeley Chess Weekenders (2184.5) - Cnt: 4 W28 W13 W15 D2 W11 D1	5.0	17	70
		NM Jack Qiji Zhu (2399) 2.5
		FM Ladia Jirasek (2343) 5.5
		NM Gabriel Jame Bick (2280) 5.5
		Kevin Yanofsky (1716) 3.5
4	BAC-WAR	BAC Warriors (2164.3) - Cnt: 4 W32 W18 D6 D7 W13 W10	5.0	16	60.5
		FM Konstan Kavutskiy (2445) 4.0
		Vinesh Ravuri (2133) 4.5
		Theodor Biyiasas (2121) 3.5
		Manas Manu (1958) 4.0

Here are the games I played.

• Round 1 - I didn't play so that our fifth player Akshithi could play.
• Round 2 - I won against National Master Richard Koepcke (2200)
• Round 3 - I won against Jamieson Pryor (2015)
• Round 4 - I won against National Master Annie Wang (2276)
• Round 5 - I won against Derek O'Connor (2167)
• Round 6  - I lost to National Master Gabriel Jame Bick (2280)

Update: US Chess Life May 2017 issue covered our news here at page 30.

Ahyan Won US National Junior Chess Championship 2015 in Age 8 and Under Group Winning All 5 Games

2015 US National Junior Chess Congress was organized by Bay Area Chess during January 24th and 25th at Santa Clara Convention Center in the hearth of Sillicon Valley. The tournament had 8 different Age Level group - for Under 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20. Two groups for Age Level 6 and 8 were held in 25th January while the other 6 groups were a 2 days event.

Ahyan Zaman, Bangladeshi American living in Fremont (California) won all the 5 games and clinched the National Junior Champion title in Age group 8 and Under. He is currently studying in 3rd grade of Parkmont School and is a regular member of the chess club NorCal House of Chess.

73 players participated in the Age 8 and Under group. Ahyan from Norcal House of Chess was 6th top seed by rating in this group. His final (5th) round game was the championship decider, where he faced top seed Adrian Kondakov of Berkeley Chess School which you can replay here - http://www.chess.com/emboard?id=2390054

Above is the final result posted in the wall at Santa Clara Convention Center. The USCF results can be found here - http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?201501252712.7-15035222

In that same age group's team championship was won by NorCal House of Chess and Ahyan was part of that team. While he has a bunch of trophies at home, this is by far the largest and is close to as tall as him. After winning the tournament, his first question was - where am I going to store this trophy?

The presentation was given by four times Women World Chess Champion GM Susan Polgar. Here is a video of the part where Ahyan received the trophy from her after announcement by Chielf Tournament Director Tom Langland.

Pushing Wood - Chess Documentary by Jeffrey Plunkett on Maurice Ashley and Millionaire Chess

Film Maker Jeffrey Plunkett recently started a crowdfunding campaign in IndieGoGo named Pushing Wood - https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/pushing-wood-a-documentary

The goal of the campaign is to raise $50,000 to fund making of a chess documentary on GM Maurice Ashley, Millionaire Chess and some insights into Professional Chess. The campaign will last until end of January and has raised more than $4,000 as of this writing. You can check out the impressive staffs, the perks and the other details in the campaign page. I read 2 good reviews on this project in the Chessbase article and NM Dana Mackenzie's blog post apart from many facebook comments. USCF recently published an interview of the film maker here - http://www.uschess.org/content/view/12924/796/

My favorite part from the promotional video is GM Timur Gareev's quote -

The only goals that are worth accomplishing are the unreasonable ones. Millionaire Chess is an unreasonable idea... and its just happening right now... hahaha...

One thing I noticed is that the funding type for this project is Fleixble Funding which IndieGoGo describes as - This campaign will receive all funds raised even if it does not reach its goal. So I am very hopeful that the documentary will eventually come out, no matter what. The current delivery date is December 2015. Millionaire Chess #2 will happen in October 2015 in Las Vegas, so I assume Plunkett will be able to include few things from that event too in the documentary.

We, the chess players, should support this initiative.

Footnote: This month's Chess Life Cover Article is on Millionaire Chess #1 by GM Daniel Naroditsky.

First Ever Millionaire Chess Open Tournament - A Grand Experience

I came back the day before yesterday from Las Vegas after playing in Millionaire Chess tournament that was held during 9th to 13th October at Planet Hollywood. My son Ahyan Zaman also played the tournament while my wife, daughter and mother-in-law accompanied us. We thoroughly enjoyed participating in this high stake chess tournament which exceeded our expectations in all angles. MC partners GM Maurice Ashley and Amy Lee went extra miles to make sure everything about this tournament is classy and beyond comparison with other traditional or regular chess tournaments in terms of playing experience or following the event as a spectator.

We flew from San Francisco at 8th night and after checking in at Planet Hollywood, we saw Amy Lee and Maurice Ashley well after midnight still receiving the guests and players at conference center reception desk. Each player received a gift pack that includes a nice leather chess bag, 6 months free ICC membership, MC branded chocolate, wrist band, various discount coupons amongst. The next morning we attended the opening breakfast buffet where famous Indian-Japanese born Comedian Dan Nainan made started the event with funny jokes that made us laugh aloud. That's when I met lot of our team mates whom I have been knowing for last 8/9 months online - Daaim, Adia, Brendan, Keith, Jones, IM Akshat Chandra and his father, Christopher Yoo and his father to name a few. We also had big group from Fremont there - other than me and Ahyan there were Shafieen and his parents, coach Ted, IM Ricardo, little kid Alekhine. As per my count 582 players participated in 6 sections although it may be a little more or less. After the comedy show we had speeches from GM Maurice Ashley and Amy Lee before we went out for red carpet photo shoots with Maurice in a long but quick queue.

The first round started 7 minutes late of 12 noon. That I thought was a pretty good success for a first round of a first time tournament. But I saw Amy was not happy even for being only 7 minutes late. There were extensive security check including scanner, cell phone check-in station as well as separate scanner for players rest room. The playing hall was huge and square shaped. All the world champions' large pictures were showing up in banners. As players from 44 countries registered, we saw 43 flags flying around in the stage, only missing Switzerland as the Swiss player registered at the very last moment when organizers had no way to order a large new flag. I and Ahyan took picture with the Bangladesh flag on top of the stage. Top boards were played in the stage with the moves digitally getting transferred to the live broadcast camera feeds. Top camera and filming crews were hired for the event. The 3 commentators in live broadcast area were - British IM Lawrence Trent, Australian WIM Arianne Caoili and American GM Robert Hess. The live broadcast / games viewing room were adjacent but separate from the playing venue where we could go and enjoy the fun filled commentaries from them. The second round started at 7 PM. But for the rest of the events it was 11 AM and 6 PM, 2 rounds daily.

The organizers set the tone of the tournament in right direction from the very beginning and the players were all well-behaved and pleasure to meet with. The playing area had a festive atmosphere all around. Whenever I would get chance between the breaks of my games I would either go to skettles room to analyze my game with my opponent after finishing it or sit in the live viewing room and follow the commentary with interest. Mauruce Ashley worked with MIT Lab to unleash a new techological advancement in Chess Spectatorship -  DeepView. To know more about it, you can check out this article - http://www.wired.com/2014/10/maurice-ashley-deepview-chess/

There were various chess merchandises available including what MC offers in their web site's shop page. We bought hoodies and T-shirts with custom prints whatever we liked. The whole playing venue were so lively all the time no matter what time of day or night you step in. We bought 3 chess sets with Millionaire logo on the board and got this signed by GM Maurice Ashley on the back.

Performance wise it was not a good tournament for me. I won 2 games, lost 3 games and drew 2 games scoring 3 out of 7 in Under 2200 section. But Ahyan won 3 games, lost 1 game and drew 3 games scoring 4.5 out of 7. This he was placed 13th to 17th jointly and received $1000 prize money. I got placed in 53rd position in my group and got $67. There was a blitz tournament at 12th October night where 200 players participate in the 4 round double game G/5 tournament. Here I scored 3 out of 8. My games can be found in these links -  Game 1, Game 2, Game 3, Game 4, Game 5, Game 6 and Game 7. Ahyan lost 4th game scoresheet so here are the other 6 games played by him - Game 1, Game 2, Game 3, Game 5, Game 6 and Game 7.

12th October was also Ahyan's birthday as well as National Chess Day of USA. Amy Lee arranged a pizza party and bug house tournament in the afternoon that day and we contributed a birthday cake to celebrate Ahyan's birthday at along with it. Kids of 13 or younger and their parents attended that event. At that party I got introduced to another Bangladeshi Shafkat who, after talking for a while, turned out to be my batch mate from Notre Dame College more than 20 years back. He was in group 7 and I was in group 1 - that's why we didn't directly know each other earlier. Shafkat's son is playing in this tournament and they flew from Long Island of East Coast for this.

At 10th October Friday 5 of my colleagues from Salesforce came to the playing venue from San Francisco for 1 night to cheer me up - William Jager, Michelle Zauss, Christopher San Nicholas, John Jackson and Paul Endo. Michelle's old school friend also joined them in the venue. They actually gave me a wave during my play and the TDs had to warn them not to do so! They are a funny bunch on themselves and we hanged around for a while after my game was finished.

In the open section the tournament was won by Wesley So with confident play from start to finish. On the way of winning the $100,000 check, he defeated Rab Robson in the final who received $50,000 check as runner up. There were lots of coverage on this event before during and after the tournament was finished. Here are few links that shows how extensively media covered this tournament.

If you want to see the winners of each sections who received very handsome payouts, check this -
http://millionairechess.com/meet-the-stars/

For standings in each section, please check out this - http://millionairechess.com/tournament-2014/

Here are some highlights of MC#1.

In Millionaire Monday October 13th, we visited Las Vegas's newest attraction The LINQ, the world's highest highroller which reminded me of London Eye and Dhaka's Shishu Park. We stayed back 1 more day in Las Vegas attending a time share presentation at 14th morning before coming back San Francisco at night. It was a memorable event for all of us and I already can't wait for the next year to participate in this event again.

I will finish this with some comments from different players and journalists opinion on attending or following this event.

* Finished the Millionaire Chess open with 6.5/9, a solid result but in an event where the difference between first and fifth is over $90k solid won't cut it- you really need spectacular. Still, if I can play this well next time and catch some better breaks who knows what could happen. Off to Brazil tomorrow morning for the Continental Championship, before I head off I'd like to publicly congratulate Maurice Ashley and Amy Lee on a wonderful event and I hope to play many more editions in the future. - GM Sam Shankland

* It was a pleasure and honor to play in the event - and I will certainly participate in Millionaire events in the future!!  - GM Daniel Naroditsky

* The old way has not brought that much attention or money to chess, so young professionals are willing to try this way to see if other organizers might follow or if the press and corporate sponsors might pick up on it. We were very happy that the likes of Wesley So, Le Quam Liem, Bu Xiangzhi and Yu Yangli played. When we do this again, we will see more GMs and many more amateurs, especially as we tweak the prizes to make it even more attractive. When we start to get sponsors then we can have even deeper and richer prizes to make this opportunity an attractive one for even the practicing professional. - GM Maurice Ashley on Millionaire Chess

* We asked people all over the world for their thoughts on having a high stake chess tournament. While we received positive comments from many that boosted our confidence, the negative comments made us doubt ourselves: were we making the right decision?

      Many people thought we were dreaming. We came across many hurdles that we did not anticipate. In the end, we tackled all of them one by one. - Opening Speech by Amy Lee, MC Partner

* The Millionaire Chess Open exceeded my expectations and set what I hope will be a NEW standard for professional chess events! Thank you GM Maurice Ashley and Amy Lee for having the vision and caring enough to bring the best to chess! - Adia Onyango, MC VIP

* Thank you so much Amy Lee and Maurice Ashley and the MC Team! It was an amazing experience for Shafieen and all of us at the Millionaire Chess Tournament. The MC team did an outstanding job to follow through their promise to make it a memorable event for the players and their families. We are anxiously waiting for the next one!

        Shafieen did play in bigger tournaments than this one before but never in a high profile one like this! He had a very slow start, 1 draw/2 losses, then got out of it and kept winning, 3 games in a row. The last game was his, after about three and a half hours in the game he made an unfortunate mistake and lost. Shafieen did learn a lot from his mistakes at this tournament, specially how to keep calm and not be devastated by any draw or loose in the first couple of rounds. He was able to earn one of the low-end prizes although he could've easily been one of the top contenders here. - Zeba Ibrahim, Mother of Shafieen Ibrahim who is MC VIP

* The tournament was first-rate and of course the first one was not going to be perfect. Some people who were naysayers still cannot get over the fact that the tournament was an overwhelming success... from many angles. We will see others continue to bring up minor mistakes to try to prove that the event failed. However, Maurice and Amy did an outstanding job and history will show that this was a monumental event. - Dr. Daaim Shabaaz, MC VIP and Chess Blogger (Chess Drum)

* If you like style and class, you missed out on a grand event. Chess players was dressed up in real nice suits. The tournament hall was laid out for a KING with the royal color purple dominating the room, and grandmaster pictures was line up on one side of the room. The excitement in the air, mere words can not explain. Thank you for treating chess players like a King. - Keith Dunbar, MC VIP

* Participating in the Millionaire Chess event was such a wonderful experience. Not only because of the opportunity to win huge amounts of money, but the gathering of and the reaquaintance of so many people. From Jones Murphy whom I had not seen in over 30 years, to the friendly Frank Johnson who worked as a Tournament director at the event. Meeting Amy Lee was very special too. She worked very hard to make this event a delight. Of course there was Maurice Ashley who has accomplished so much and yet this man was working hard the first day I showed up, getting physically involved with everything to make this a special event. I made new friends too many to name. Special mention to a couple whom I met that told me they used to ride my train when I worked the A and C lines as a conductor for NYCT. I won't forget this event any time soon and I am looking forward to the next one. - Robert Dennis Beatty, Chess Player

* My most lasting impression of the tournament was the constant, building sense of drama, from the opening moments. This peaked during the playoffs. I got unprecedented feedback from friends and family, including their watching my one game which was broadcast live as a top board in the U200 section. There’s no question that this enormous fan base will be extremely attractive to advertisers and sponsors seeking to put their name and products out before a big audience. - Jones Murphy, MC VIP on Millionaire Chess Open

* Really there were so many things that were special about this tournament, that it is almost impossible to describe them all. For example, they had girls walking around during the tournament giving water to the players. I would never even think of an idea like this! To say that it was a first class event is an under statement. I did not see a single thing that I thought was “half assed” or unprofessional. The organizers were very generous with the prize fund, and even rewarded players like myself who signed up early, with a “lifetime VIP”, which will allow me to enter future tournaments at half price! That was very thoughtful! - Tim Brennan, MC VIP and Chess Blogger (Tactics Time)

* DeepView originally was created for, and debuted, at the Millionaire Chess Open, the largest money-prize open chess tournament in history (also founded by Ashley), that saw its inaugural match last weekend in Las Vegas. Ashley and the MIT Media Lab are working to make the software open source and widely available via a web service that would allow anyone to analyze individual chess players or process live data from an ongoing match. - Bo Moore of wired.com
 
* Now a team from MIT is trying to make 1,500 year old game into an e-sport, starting with the Millionaire Chess Open championship in Las Vegas. Throughout this week’s tournament, they’ve been testing a system called DeepView (a play on Deep Blue, the IBM super computer that beat chess champion Garry Kasparov in the 1990s). It combines algorithms, leaderboards, and real-time game visualizations to turn chess into a smart spectator sport. - Leah Hunter on DeepView

* The idea of big money in chess is not new. Before the world championship match against Boris Spassky in Reykjavik 1972, Bobby Fischer told me in an interview for the Voice of America the following:

    "When people start to read about hundred thousand dollar prize money, I think they are going to get interested in the game. That's the way our system works. I think to a great extent people - if something doesn't have much money in it - they kind of tend to downgrade it. When I take a look at golf with all this money, I have a lot of interest in it."

    A lot of people talked about it, but Ashley and Lee did it. And that's the big difference. - Huffington Post on Millionaire Chess

*  Chess is not the kind of game traditionally played for high stakes in Las Vegas, but it is getting an image make-over. This weekend players from all over the world attended a Vegas tournament promising a $1m (£624,000) prize, the biggest in competitive chess. - BBC News on Millionaire Chess

* So far, this tournament has really impressed all and the vibe in Vegas has been really exciting. - WIM Sabrina Chevannes on Millionaire Chess

* To sum up, the Millionaire Chess Open was exciting not only because of the potential boost in popularity of chess, but also because of the actual chess itself! The imposed 30-move draw rule in the open section, albeit rare for open tournaments, led to lots of fighting chess in the later rounds. - FM Kostya Kavutskiy on Millionaire Chess Open

* I just spent two days sleeping on my bed, so tired. I couldn't believe this year Millionaire Chess Open closed. Thanks to Amy Lee and Grandmaster Maurice Ashley, and the perfect MCO team to hold such a fantastic chess tournament in history! Congratulations to Millionaire Monday winner GM Wesley So. Thanks to all my teammates, friends and opponents. - Qibiao Wang

* The Millionaire Chess Open happened in Las Vegas today - after more than a year in the planning. There's a million dollars in the prize pool making it the highest stake open chess tournament in history.  - Mornings with Geoff Hutchison

* Titled players were given unlimited access to the Doll Lounge “VIP Room.” All participants were given a pass to visit at least once. One of my favorite parts of the tournament (and post-round destinations) was the free massages! Everyone was given the star treatment. There were photo opportunities on the “red” carpet. In-house photographers snapped away during the rounds. - FM Alisa Melekhina on Millionaire Chess

* Amy Lee and Maurice Ashley deserve a tremendous amount of praise for their efforts in making Millionaire Chess go from a shared vision to a successful operation that players, spectators, commentators, educators, journalists have been viewing over the last few days.

        Everyone who is involved or knowledgeable about this event has to share their experience with other players and chess lovers worldwide, once the event is over. This is the best way to give back and promote this event for the future.

        I am sure a financial loss was taken by the organizers but if the long term vision is reached then I'm confident that could be neutralized.

        Amy and Maurice have played the opening moves but the onus is on us, the chess population, to make sure this event becomes an annual event, perhaps even more!

        Congrats!! - Nick Panico, Chess Player

* The format guaranteed this excitement (quite unlike the 2014 Sinquefield Cup, which was unexpectedly over after only eight rounds). All sections competed for seven rounds, then the top four scores in the open would advance to a knockout "Millionaire Monday" (players in the open continued to compete for two additional rounds for norm purposes). - Chess.com Correspondent GM Mike Klein on Millionaire Chess

* Any injection of money to the chess world is, in my view, positive. For many grandmasters it is depressing that someone rated below 1400 won more money in one tournament than what they have made in their lifetimes playing the game. But as long as they are fueling the top category prizes, as long as these kind of tournaments are more accessible for professionals and as long as the prizes in the top section are increased (I believe it was too top heavy, $8,000 for fifth and $100,000 for first doesn't sound right) it is an event that I will mark in my calendar every year. For its first year, I categorize Millionaire Chess as a success, and I hope that the business model of creating interest in the first few years to reap the rewards when more and more people sign up in later years becomes successful. - GM Alejadro Ramirez on Millionaire Chess

* I have to give @MauriceAshley & @AmyLeeBiz A LOT of credit for @HighStakesChess. They are working so hard to put on a world class event. - GM Susan Polgar Tweets on Millionaire Chess

* Glad to see @HighStakesChess take off successfully. Looking forward to some exciting chess! Good luck to the participants! - GM Fabiano Caruana Tweets on Millionaire Chess

* I’m sure that was the kind of game that Maurice Ashley dreamed about when he made up this tournament format. What an amazing finish, with both sides sacrificing material and threatening mates all over the place, and I’m sure that neither player had a lot of time left. - NM Dana Mackenzie on Ray Robson vs Yangyi Yu Semi-Final Game of Millionaire Chess

* I think this could be a turning point for chess. It’s a unique tournament and event with high prize amounts. There is a great younger generation coming up. For America, it could depend on having a star player. Magnus Carlsen (the current No. 1-ranked player) is a star in Norway. The TV cameras follow him around. - Amateur player John Collins, who came from England to compete in Millionaire Chess

* Ashley is very clear about his vision. He wants chess to be a spectator sport, and the open was his move at replicating the atmosphere of the World Series of Poker. The web broadcast, complete with slick graphics and a team of chess announcers who were both well versed in the game but up for injecting tension and drama into the proceedings, were all part of Ashley’s gambit that chess can capture a broader audience. - Tovin Lapan, Chess Journalist on Millionaire Chess

* The real value in this event was the quality of the event and not the money. I personally would pay every time for this quality. In the end amateurs are customers. I think MC understands this well. All of this quality cost a great deal of money. Amateur chess players were treated far better than ever before and maybe better then we deserve. The question is would the average chess player rather spend much less, receive much less and focus more on the game it's self? - Expert John Salisbury on Millionaire Chess

* There is no top female prize in the event, but yet, so many women have turned up for this wonderful event to compete equally with the men. However, the women are still a commodity in this tournament with the $1000 mixed doubles prize up for grabs. Teams must have an average rating of 2200 and their combined score is what counts, regardless of what section they are in. Therefore, the women can carefully select their partners. What is interesting, is that there are so many strong female players in the Open section, that most mixed doubles team will consist of a stronger female and weaker male, breaking the stereotype of women being weaker than men at chess. - NevadaChess.Org on Millionaire Chess Open

* Natasha, Chess Player, shared her top 10 things she loved about the tournament -

10. Friendly TDs and assistants
9. Water girls who delivered water directly to the boards

8. Excellent playing conditions, including quiet tournament hall
7. Time control and timing of rounds - slow enough to play well, enough time between rounds to eat and recover
6. Timely posting of pairings on website/app
5. Sense of community created by the phone app
4. Generous prizes extending to 50th place offset the high entry fee
3. Inspiring portraits of world champions in the tournament hall
2. Free chair massages for all participants
1. Boundless positive energy and generosity of Maurice and Amy

New York Times Mentions Us On A Millionaire Chess Tournament News

Last month a reporter from New York Times called me to know more about why we registered Ahyan on Millionaire Chess tournament at such a young age of 7. He informed that he was planning to write a report on Millionaire Chess and that's when he came to know about Ahyan. I answered all his queries some of which was quoted in the article. 1st September Sunday New York Times have published the article on Millionaire Chess and we (whole family) were mentioned in it.

Here is the article link. 

Millionaire Chess to Hit Las Vegas, in Gambit to Raise Game’s Profile With Big Prizes

The paper cutting was scanned and uploaded in Facebook by one of the Millionaire Chess participants Adia Onyango. Thank you Adia. 

The excerpt from the article where we were mentioned -

Ashik Uzzaman, 38, a software engineer who is also from California, was one of the first 76 entries, along with his son, Ahyan Zaman, 7. It will be a family vacation for them, along with Mr. Uzzaman’s wife, Sushmita, and their daughter, who is 3.

“This is our passion and our hobby,” Mr. Uzzaman said. But there was another reason that he wanted to play, and particularly for his son to participate. He said that people who were willing to spend so much money on the entry fees were really committed to the game and that would create a special atmosphere that was different from other tournaments.

The reporter Dylan McClain himself is a FIDE Master of Chess and hence is very familiar with the intricacies of Chess world.

We are ordinary people and ordinary chess players. Getting mentioned in one of the world's most widely read (and most  prestigious) newspaper is something that humbled us. We are happy and can't wait to join the Millionaire Chess tournament this October at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas!

Join The Fun at Millionaire Chess Tournament in Las Vegas

As a competitive chess player I am used to making the opening move...so I have taken a chance to reach out to you! While there's already a real buzz in the chess world it may not have caught your attention yet that this is shaping up to be a breakout year for chess -

• · A new 23 year old world champion beat Bill Gates, who naturally thinks he is quite good at chess, in just 3 minutes in the Silicon Valley.

• · 80 million people watched the final World Chess Championship game broadcast live in India.

• · Cuba Gooding's chess movie, Life of a King premiered in January and Toby Mcguire's biopic on the greatest US chess player ever, Bobby Fischer, is scheduled to come out later this year.

• · Hundreds of thousands of school children in the US are playing chess as part of their school curriculum. It’s proven to develop children’s planning and thinking skills.

• · A One Million USD prize fund, the largest ever for an open tournament, will be fought over in Vegas in October. Prizes at this level allow talented young players to make a living playing chess. The tournament is working with MIT to change the way audiences follow the game.

The man behind the tournament (millionairechess.com), Grandmaster Maurice Ashley, is known for his historic achievements. He became the game's first African-American Grandmaster back in 1999, does chess commentary for ESPN on Man vs Machine chess matches, and most recently at the 2014 US Chess Championship in St Louis. (http://uschesschamps.com/live)

I hope this sparks your interest and if you need any more background info or interviews please let me know.

It's your move now!

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Be a Part of History in Vegas!

The 1^st million-dollar Open chess tournament is set to take place from October 9-13 at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. First place in the Open section is a whopping $100,000 while the $40,000 first place prize in the class sections is simply unheard of. GM Maurice Ashley, who previously ran the $500,000 HB Global Chess Challenge back in 2005, is the one of the lead organizers. The prize fund is absolutely guaranteed (regardless of number of entrants), and the multiple amenities include gift bags for the players, a VIP room, limo pick-up from the airport for 1^st 20 GMs and their travel companions, enhanced security to deter cheating, hostesses in the playing area, GM lectures, free GM simuls for participants, and much more. The event will be broadcast live online with a production staged to simulate watching a televised sporting event.

Millionaire Chess Open

October 9-13 or October 10-13,

 7SS plus 2 round knockout, 9SS for Open with 2 round knockout for final 4,

Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, 3667 S Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89109.

In 6 sections: $1,000,000 prize fund absolutely guaranteed. Free lectures and GM simuls for registered players.

Open section, October 9-13 only: 40/2, SD/30, d5. After 7 rounds, the top 4 finishers will move on to play a G/25, d5 playoff on Oct. 13.  Players outside of the top 4 will finish playing another two rounds on Oct. 13 to win prizes and acquire norms. (see http://millionairechess.com/tournament/schedule for details)

Under 2200 to Under 1400 Sections, October 9-13, 10-13: 40/2, SD/30, d5 (4 day option, rds. 1-5 G/45, d5). After 7 rounds, the top 4 finishers in every prize category will move on to play a G/25, d5 playoff on Oct. 13 (only top 2 from U1000). The tournament will be over on Oct. 12 for players who finish outside of the top 4.

Open Section: $100,000-50,000-25,000-14,000-8,000-4,000

   7-20^th-$2,000
                21-50^th-$1,000

                         2350-2499: $40,000-20,000-10,000-$5,000

                        Under 2350: $40,000-20,000-10,000-5,000

GM and IM norms possible, FIDE rated

Under 2200: $40,000-20,000-10,000-5,000-3,000-2,000
                         7th to 20th – $1,000
                         21st to 50th – $600

Under 2000: $40,000-20,000-10,000-5,000-3,000-2,000
                         7th to 20th – $1,000
                         21st to 50th – $600

Under 1800: $40,000-20,000-10,000-5,000-3,000-2,000
                         7th to 20th – $1,000
                         21st to 50th – $600

Under 1600: $40,000-20,000-10,000-5,000-3,000-2,000
                         7th to 20th – $1,000
                         21st to 50th – $600

Under 1400 Section: $24,000-12,000-6,000-4,000-3,000-2,000
                                       7th to 20th – each $1,000
                                       21st to 50th – each $600

Under 1200: $20,000-10,000-6,000-4,000-2,000

Under 1000: $8,000-4,000-2,000-2,000-2,000

Unrated/Provisionally rated players may only play in the Open or U2200 sections. The Chief Tournament Director has the final say on the ratings used in the event.

Foreign player ratings: See http://millionairechess.com/tournament/faq

US player ratings: See http://millionairechess.com/tournament/faq

Entry fee: Online at http://millionairechess.com/product/registration

• $1,000 before July 31, 2014
• $1,500 from August 1 through October 8, 2014
• $2,000 from October 9 through 3:30 p.m. October 10, 2014 onsite. No checks, credit cards only.
• Registration officially closes at 3:30 p.m. on October 10, 2014

Discounts: Register with a group of 10-24 players and get 10% off.
Register with a group of 25+ and get 12% off. Rebate paid on site after all players in group have confirmed arrival.

Re-entry: $400, no re-entry allowed in Open section.

USCF membership required to play in tournament. Register at: https://secure2.uschess.org/webstore/member.php

Open Section plays 5-Day schedule only (Time control is 40/120 and G/30 with a 5 second delay): Thu 12:00 pm & 7:00 pm, Friday 11 am & 6 pm, Saturday 11 am & 6 pm, Sunday 11 am. No Draws: A 30-move draw rule will be in effect throughout the event, for the Open Section only, including any playoff games.  Player must not agree to a draw before the game or mutually agree to a draw in less than 30 moves.  

Playoffs to determine top 4 players: Sunday @ 6 pm (Time control is dependent on number of players vying for a place in the final four. The format will be announced 1 hour before round).

All players who do not make it into the final four will continue to play rounds 8 and 9 to determine 5th place and below, and to qualify for norms. Note the early start time. Rounds 8 and 9: Monday 10 am & 5pm

See http://millionairechess.com/tournament/schedule for more details.

Round Times for Under 2200, U2000, U1800, U1600 & U1400

5-Day Schedule (Time control is 40/120 and G/30 with a 5 second delay): Thu 12:00 pm & 7:00 pm, Friday 11 am & 6 pm,Saturday 11 am & 6 pm, Sunday 11 am.

4-Day Schedule (Time control is G/45 with a 5 second delay): Fri 5:30 pm & 7:30 pm, Sat 11 am & 1 pm and 3 pm.

For rounds 6 and 7, merge with 5-day and compete for the same prizes.

Playoffs to determine top 4 players: 6 pm (Time control is dependent on number of players vying for a place in the final four. The format will be announced 1 hour before round).

After the final four players have been determined, the tournament is officially over for the rest of the participants in the Under2200, U2000, U1800, U1600, and U1400 sections.

See http://millionairechess.com/tournament/schedule for more details.

Millionaire Monday Schedule

The top four players from each section will play each other in a double round knock-out to determine the eventual winner and prize distribution. Note that the losers of the semi-finals will play each other to determine who takes 3^rd place and who takes 4^th place.

Semi-Finals Schedule

Round 1 (G/25 +5sec delay): Monday, October 13 @ 11:00 a.m.
Round 2 (G/25 +5sec delay): Monday, October 13 @ 12:30 p.m.

1st Tie-Break Round
1st Game (G/15 +5sec delay): Monday, October 13 @ 2:00 p.m.
2nd Game (G/15 +5sec delay): Monday, October 13 @ 2:45 p.m.

2nd Tie-Break Round
1st Game (5min +2sec delay): Monday, October 13 @ 3:30 p.m.
2nd Game (5min +2sec delay): Monday, October 13 @ 3:45 p.m.

3rd Tie-Break Round
1 Game (White 5min, Black 3m 30s w/draw odds): Monday, October 13 @ 4:15 p.m.

Finals Schedule: Played to determine 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th places.

Round 1 (G/25 +5sec delay): Monday, October 13 @ 5:00 p.m.
Round 2 (G/25 +5sec delay): Monday, October 13 @ 6:30 p.m.

1st Tie-Break Round
1st Game (G/15 +5sec delay): Monday, October 13 @ 8:00 p.m.
2nd Game (G/15 +5sec delay): Monday, October 13 @ 8:45 p.m.

2nd Tie-Break Round
1st Game (5min +2sec delay): Monday, October 13 @ 9:30 p.m.
2nd Game (5min +2sec delay): Monday, October 13 @ 9:45 p.m.

3rd Tie-Break Round
1 Game (White 5m, Black 3m 30s w/draw odds): Monday, October 13 @ 10:15 p.m.

Sets and boards supplied, bring clocks (some provided).

Hotel rates: Planet Hollywood $112, Bally’s $79, Call 1-866-317-1829, Ask for chess rate. Code Word MC2014

Special rules and FAQs: See http://millionairechess.com/tournament/faq

Entry: http://millionairechess.com/register-now

Questions: http://millionairechess.com/contact

Advance entries: http://millionairechess.com/news/registration-list